Beijing on Ice

It's been interesting watching Beijing mobilize to deal with the recent "blizzard". As i said before, they don't get much practice. The few storms i've seen before cleaned themselves up in either minutes, hours, or, at most, maybe a day. I suspect the authorities were waiting for the natural snow removal forces to swoop in and clean up the city. However, temperatures have remained very low since the storm, and as a result the city has dispatched China's awesome manual labor force. On the fourth day after the storm.

Everyone from the Midwest or the mountains knows if you don't shovel in the first day or so, you risk having to shovel a rock hard slab of ice later. Apparently, no one told Beijing. Four days had made the city messy. I must have seen six accidents in as many taxi rides during the first few days.

On my way to work on Thursday, i saw dozens of workers with shovels chipping away at the thick ice rink outside. They must have worked pretty fast though, because when i returned with my camera, all i found was the debris.

Fat little Chinese snowmen.

This lady couldn't even bear to ride her bike in this mess.

The clear, blue skies sure make a impressive backdrop for the billowing fumes, don't they?

Oh... and it's supposed to snow again this weekend.

In other news... i got older! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Therese surprised me when i came home with a becandled pumpkin pie accompanied by a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday (sung in her sultry, bluesy style) before taking me out to a killer dinner at Mosto.

Man, why can't everyday be my birthday?

~Kev