5/14/06

China Update #11 by Darrol Butler 

Links
Chinese language learning software for PDA’s http://www.plecodict.com
 

Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors: 

April 17, 2006 

Sandstorms...     Hello everyone.  Well, spring has sprung and with it has come Beijing’s infamous spring sandstorms.  In the last few weeks the winds have become increasingly frequent, and more and more of the dirt and dust on the streets is picked up in gusts and flung everywhere, including into the eyes of those out walking around.  Before coming to China I had imagined thick sandstorms that would prevent people from going outside.  However, I have learned from experience that most of the sandstorms here are made up of a fine dust which, although not thick, accumulates on the body, especially the face and in the hair, after only spending a short time outdoors.  Indeed this may be one of the reasons, along with the high levels of smog pollution, that people frequently pick their noses and are often seen spitting on the street.  I have found that after spending just a little time outdoors during these sandstorms that the combination of the dry spring air and the accumulation of sand in it causes the mucus in my nose to dry out and become rather uncomfortable.  In addition I have also found that these conditions are causing me to have a dry, raspy throat. 

Today I woke up at 5:30am (I couldn’t sleep because of the constant rattling of the apartment building caused by the wind), to discover a think layer of sand covering my neighborhood.  I was quite surprised because until now I had not seen such a large amount of sand deposited over a big area.  Everything outside, from the windows of the apartments, to the cars, bicycles, and streets were covered in it.  Indeed the yellow tint in combination with the early morning silence was quite eerie.  I spent five minutes wiping the sand from my bicycle before I took off to school early, leaving bicycle tracks the whole way. 

After returning home from school I found out that because the sand was so thick it caused my friend Mike’s mother, who is visiting him here in Beijing, to slip on one of the uneven sidewalks and twist her ankle.  Mike and I ended up taking her into a hospital for x-rays, where we ended up getting her a splint, and a walker with wheels on it. 

Here is a link to the Sina English website with articles and additional photos regarding the recent sandstorms in Beijing:

http://english.sina.com/z/060413sandstorm/index.shtml 

Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading, 

Darrol Butler

hairyleprechaun@gmail.com

My new address:

Darrol Butler
c/o Office of CSU International Programs
Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101
Peking University
Haidian District, Beijing, 100871
China

Photos from the sandstorm of 2006 which dumped 300,000 tons of sand from the Gobi desert onto Beijing.