The Dust Bowl

Swirling dust makes Tianamen Square appear orange on Saturday (via BBC). This is what it looks like outside the windows of my office today (Monday, March 22), and it's super creepy.

This weekend and today, I  experienced another first – my first dust storm! Now I know what those migrants were feeling on the prairies back in the 19th century?

Saturday was apparently the worst, though I didn’t actually venture outside all day, as authorities issued a a level-five pollution warning urging residents to stay indoors (and if they’re issuing pollution warnings in Beijing, where pollution is as common as traffic, you know it’s bad).

The storms apparently originated on the plains of Mongolia/Inner Mongolia, and today it’s just as bad, only this time I actually had to leave my apartment to come to work. The entire city is an eerie orange color, a color I’ve never seen associated with the sky. It’s like nuclear winter or something. The wind is intense and the dust is everywhere. On my walk from the bus stop to the office – a short jaunt of just 25 steps or so – I managed to get attacked by a gust of wind and still have dust in my eye that I can’t seem to get out.

Here’s hoping the storm passes over soon!

Update: Meanwhile, I can’t find even a mention of the dust storm on the website of China Daily, the country’s biggest English-language newspaper. Go figure.