Blue skies in HK????

[Pekkerhead]

yes, the temp has been mainly very pleasant. i guess that is one of the good things about this time of year.

on the odd day that the sun has broken through, it has warmed up very quickly. nothing compared to summer time heat though.

[Sleuth]

Sunfire,
The problem with HK--and all of China--is you assume overcast to be pollution. Whereas in places like the US you would assume pollution to be overcast.

[Sleuth]

Surely the athletes won't be going into water there? You could not pay me enough.

Well, they won't be swimming in it. But if you watch those big yacht races, everyone is pretty much soaked in the end. And I wouldn't even want to get wet, let alone inhale a mouthful as you worked the sails.

[abdi]

Just about to bring my kids out to HK and finding this all a bit of a worry. What are the real health implications here.............where can I read about that? The tone of this thread has been DO NOT bring kids here.............but all the schools are full so people must be doing. Very hard to get a sensible handle on exactly how harmful it is. Are people getting sick regularly or is it worries about long term health effects ?? What are these ?? and again where can one get good info??

[aussiegal]

It's hard to get factual info on just how bad the pollution is here because it seems Hong Kong must be careful in speaking out negatively about anything the mainland does or causes. I also remember seeing a website that tracks pollution here and they say that the methods used by the gov in measuring day to day pollution are inaccurate and do not accurately reflect how bad things are here.

It is probably a lot easier to ask people how their health is since they moved to HK. We moved here 6 weeks ago. In the time we've been here we've seen two clearish days, maybe three tops. We have a 14 month old baby who got a cold after three weeks and still has it. In fact, we all got the cold and have lingering runny noses and coughs that just won't go away. My son had never before been ill and both my husband and I rarely get sick- maybe a cold every three or four years so i think that says a lot.

If you come with children you simply have to live Southside. We do but I still feel guilty as my son has only ever known the beautiful blue skies of Sydney. We are about to have our second child so we have promised each other we will not be here for longer than 2 years.

When I go into Central or really anywhere outside of Southside I 'feel' the pollution. I believe you can literally taste it on your tongue and you can certainly see it. There is just no way that it doesn't have long term affects on people's health. If you're not getting an amazing package and have significant financial incentives for doing it for a short period I wouldn't come.

What I don't get is why the locals put up with it. There is a real sense of laissez-faire here but we're talking about our future, our children's futures etc. How can locals be proud of a city which has so drastically changed in just a few years? Hong Kong needs ex-pats to stay competitive globally but more and more are returning home and many choose not to come at all because of the pollution. I wonder when people will do something...

[goleoboy]

Well said Aussie. Not being there yet but planning to move back this summer - I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stand living there. I wouldn't go if my family wasn't there,

but I agree, locals need to start speaking up or at least encouraging people to 'do something about it'. Since $$$ talks, maybe the economic competitiveness angle may yield better results.

thanks expats who are giving HK a chance - and actually caring about this despite the fact that HK may not your homeland. :-))

[Sunfire]

I moved here after living in Mexico City for two years. Before, I've gotten a cold once or twice a year max. During the year I've lived here, I've been sick 5-6 times (feel like I'm getting a cold again, actually). With the pollution being what it is in MX City and rarely getting sick there, I have a hard time believing it's the pollution that caused the change in frequency here. Rather, I think it's a set of common virii with just enough dissimilarity to what my immune system is used to that causes me more discomfort.

[goleoboy]

I thnk moving from one place to another would always yield some physicaly adjustment - not to justify the pollution there - since you clearly see/feel it - but getting sick or runny nose etc has alot to do with adapting to completely different climate etc. When i first moved to the U.S., my hay fever and spring fever attacks were uncontrollable - even moving from LA to NY - the weather is so different that I got more sick out there than back in LA. anyways, again just something to consider.

[Sleuth]

I'm with the climate people. Moving across the world exposes you to different allergens. Plus this is the land of bird flu (all flu, really) and SARS. Really not the top choice for those with compromised immune systems.
We live in the NT and it isn't as bad as Central. Unless you are from China the pollution here will be worse than wherever you are moving from.
The long-term effects can't be good, but nobody really knows about the short-term. People smoke for 60 years and live until 100; athletes drop dead in their 20s. A lot of it is going to be your genes.
But I do wish they would stop building the coal fired power plants and clean the air. It can be done and is being done all across the West. These guys just don't want to spend the money, which is a terrible reason to pollute the planet.

[aussiegal]

I'm sure change of climate has something to do with it but we've lived in quite a few very different climates and not fallen sick like this so the pollution is definitely making things worse. France, London, Middle East, Australia - never fallen sick on arrival or even for many months after arrival.

Also, I'm pretty sure I've heard of something called 'the hong kong cough'. That's gotta mean something in itself - I don't recall hearing about a New York cough or a Sydney one!