北京欢迎你 / Welcome to Beijing

I just got into Beijing yesterday and had a very busy day today, so I don't have time to write much. However, I have two things to note right now.

Firstly, Chinese food is delicious and I have missed it so much.

 This was the dinner on our first night here, right after we got back from the airport. That's four people's worth of food, and we ended up finishing pretty much all of it. It was delicious. 西红柿炒蛋 （tomatoes with scrambled eggs) is in the middle, surrounded by 老醋花生 (peanuts in vinegar), 鱼香茄子（fish-flavored eggplant in a delicious garlicky sauce), 宫保鸡丁（kung pao chicken, pretty solid over here), and three dishes whose names I can't remember. The most interesting of these is the one in the bottom right, the grayish dish with peppers on top. Apparently it's very Beijing-y and is a type of tofu, served with hot chili oil. It has a very soft texture, putting up no resistance whatsoever, and has a flavor reminiscent of cheese. Not really sure how that works, but I'm not going to complain. It was great.

Secondly, Beijing pollution is terrifying and I'm very glad I'm not going to be in this city all year.

Those buildings way off in the distance disappearing into the fog are maybe a block or so away. Granted, Beijing blocks are huge, but still. They're not that far away. And that's not fog or mist or rain. That's pure smog. It was the worst it's been in like 6 months today, with the air quality index measured by the US embassy reaching about 500. For reference, up to 100 is considered fine and anything above 300 is considered hazardous to your health. So there's that. On the plus side, I had a mask, which lessened the effects somewhat, though at the cost of being uncomfortable and distinctly unfashionable. Ah well.

北京欢迎你！

再见，
Billy