Travel Agents Respond to Smog Alert in Beijing

The smog in Beijing has been so bad that schools were closed and the government urged children and the elderly to remain inside. The government also urged people to use public transportation instead of walking, and if outside to wear a mask.

According to the President of Artistico Travel, Sandy Staples, consultants in Folsom, CA, Sandy Staples, smog levels may be all over the media but the fog in Beijing is not worth canceling trips over. As weather climates begin to fall the wind from the cold front would likely push the smog out onto the water and away from Beijing attractions such as The Great Wall (1 – 2.5 hours outside of Beijing) and Temple of Heaven. Staples also said that most travel insurances such as Allianz and Travelex would not cover cancellations for the smog.

In terms of whether or not to recommend clients to visit Beijing, Staples says “It is extremely hard to recommend a first time visitor not travel to Beijing, as this area houses so many of the “representative” sights of China, however I always recommend seeing areas such as Guangzhou.”

Whereas, Stan Goldwyn of Travel Store, consultants in Sacramento, CA said “January is the worst time to visit as well as general winter months because of temperature inversion which is typical due to heavy use of coal for heating. China uses a third of the world’s coal, and they are short on oil, this increase of smog pollution is similar to the famous London black fog in the 1950’s and has the same kind of conditions. When something like this occurs eventually people start doing things to change it.”

Beijing in the winter is prone to heavy smog, and due to mountains smog generally gets trapped there. Some contributing factors to the smog are the fact that China still burns a lot of coal, and has a hugely growing number of cars, rules in terms of limiting emissions of cars are way behind the US, there’s no way around it or sugar coding. Goldwyn says [He] doesn’t typically recommend traveling to China in the winter, due to the weather being well below freezing most days.

For those with trips already booked to Beijing, Staples recommends museums and techno shopping malls that are an experience all on their own. Interesting museums to keep in mind are The Beijing Capitol Museum and the Palace Museum. There is also wonderful opera performances and amazing acrobatic shows.

Goldwyn says when preparing for the clients note that Beijing can expect heavy air pollution and is not long term harmful unless you are asthmatic, and half way through The Great Wall the smog clears.

Also, not the entire country has nasty pollution, the advice Goldwyn gives people is it is there and it is going on, if you have asthma you might want to talk to your doctor about postponing your trip, The Chinese are trying to push to get it under control, and to encourage people to travel to China in spring or fall, fall the smog blows out into the ocean due to it being windy. If you can limit your time in Beijing 3-4 days that would be beneficial, most of the time Shang Hai is pretty nice-no mountains around it, but a period of dead air can be uncomfortable.

In an effort to battle the smog a Canadian start-up company called Vitality Air bottled up fresh air from Banff in Canada, and spent 10 hours bottling up fresh air that sold on Ebay for 99 cents.

Bottom-line: Don’t let it keep you from going but try and time it so you are not experiencing the worst of it.

Pic:Sandra Staples