Hong Kong in smog -- almost all the time

I've been to Hong Kong. Fortunate to go on a tourist jaunt to see some of the limestone pillars in Guangxi province, along the Li River, and also the stone forest of Shilin (in Yunnan province). Lots of images available of these picturesque places, so I won't grab any here. Getting from point A to point B was an adventure; it requires patience. I lost most of mine. But actually being there was transcendent (and calmed me down).

But what got me most was the haze. It wasn't too bad in Yunnan, it was worse in Guangxi, and it was terrible in Hong Kong. There was one half-clear day when the skyline was mostly visible. And Hong Kong is supposed to be famous for its skyline and the view of the city from Victoria Peak. If you go, you'll be lucky to see some of it.

It's getting worse, according to the articles below. And this is what continues to confuse me about China -- can't they see how bad it is? That's what coal-burning and industrial air pollution does to you. It would be in their best interest to clean things up. At some point the populace is going to realize that they're being poisoned and suffocated to death. The problem is that the population is so huge the government techno-autocrats don't see a few premature deaths -- and in this country, a "few" could mean a few million -- as a major obstacle toward economic prosperity. But they are damning (and damming) their next generations, along with most of the Western world, to a deteriorationg climate.

So anyway, here's the article that inspired that reminisce + rant, with a couple of highlighted passage. And a couple of images showing what I mean.

Smog sinks Hong Kong's famous skyline

"Statistics from the Hong Kong Observatory show that the annual number of hours of "reduced visibility" jumped from 295 in 1988 to 1,100 in 2008."

"Reduced visibility is part of the regional air pollution problems in the Pearl River Delta region," he said in a statement to AFP.

Christine Loh, chief executive of Civic Exchange, warned that dirty air is now driving away the people who are instrumental to the success of the city.

"The biggest shocker of all was that our surveys showed that half a million Hong Kong people -- usually in the professional classes -- are planning to leave because of air pollution," she said.

Clear views:

Hong Kong daylight view


This one is STUNNING: (and more recent; note the new buildings)
Clear Panoramic view of Hong Kong


The much more common smoggy view
City of smog