Being dropped into the center of Beijing is sort of like winding up in a nightclub at 4am – the air is thick and heavy, smells are pungent, and everyone seems to be heading for the door at the same time. Having spent five years living and working in New York, I’m no stranger to big cities and usually thrive on urban energy and eccentricity, but Beijing is in a league of its own. My system was shocked by its overwhelming pollution, oppressive humidity, standstill traffic, harsh sounds, and massive amount of people concentrated into a small area.

My run in Beijing started close to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and progressed down a winding road into the outskirts of China’s capital city. Historically and culturally, running this leg was an incredible experience; but physically and mentally, it was one of the toughest yet. I felt sad as I strained to see the Wall veiled by Beijing’s infamous blanket of smog, and I couldn’t help comparing it to a blurry sepia-toned photograph. The smog was so thick that I couldn’t make out the beautifully detailed construction I remember seeing when I walked along the Wall two years ago, and the sun behind it looked like a fuzzy orange circle in the yellowish-grey sky. My eyes stung, my throat burned, and I had to cover my nose and mouth with my singlet at points to avoid inhaling the black fumes coming out of ongoing vehicles. I dodged bicycles, rickshaws and pedestrians and trudged through heaps of litter and pools of stagnant water as I made my way to the exchange point. And not
surprisingly, throughout my entire 16km run, I didn’t pass one other
person running, cycling, or even walking for exercise. People simply can’t exercise outside in Beijing.

The whole time I was in Beijing, I felt a knot in my stomach as I wondered what we’ve done to our planet and how we’re going to repair the damage. The truth in China isn’t just “inconvenient” as Al Gore would say. It’s oppressive and omnipresent. I understand that the Chinese government is taking extreme measures to clean up the city before hosting the Summer Olympics next year, and has plans to close factories, require mass transit, and limit vehicles in Beijing. I’ve read Thomas Friedman’s many columns about how forward-thinking the Chinese are about climate control and their oil consumption. This has all made me feel encouraged and inspired. But to be totally honest, being here and running here, it’s hard to feel hopeful that China can turn it around. Especially in contrast to the clean air of Russia’s Lake Baikal region and Mongolia’s wide open spaces, China is a stark reminder that we all desperately need
to clean up our act.