Chill Out, Balmy Beijing

Beijing had a nice little heat wave last week, when temperatures climbed and highs peered into the low 50's. It was swell, and then tuesday it snowed. It was also the first snowfall of this winter, and we were blessed with another round today. I felt a strange mix of feelings: surprise, longing, and disappointment. Surprise, because i never actually expected any snow in Beijing. Longing for the incredible, awe-inspiring snowfalls in Colorado. And disappointment, because it literally could not even be measured in millimeters. It was a dusting, one that would not last until lunch.

I can hear Colorado saying in a Crocodile Dundee voice, "You call that a snowstorm? THIS is a snowstorm." (... also this. Boulder was hit by a cumulative 56 inches of snow in two consectutive weekends in 2006. My flight was delayed 3 days.)

Here is the view out my window in the morning. It is not as impressive. They use brooms, not shovels, to gently shoo away the snow.


This was taken from the 19th floor of a vendors office in far East Beijing.


I love this... it looks like a devastating stampede of wild apartments stopped dead in their tracks after stumbling upon the quiet and charming herd of gentle hutongs.

~Kev