On July 17th, I read this interesting article, The Enemies: Heat and Humidity, in the International Herald Tribune, describing the potential issues facing athletes at next month’s Olympic games in Beijing.

I sympathize with the athletes who will have to compete under such dire conditions. The subtropical climate creates a stifling heat in summer and, coupled with the high humidity, sometimes makes it too unbearable to move around. And then having to race about at peak performance makes me think I would want to crawl back into an air-conditioned room – on all fours, if necessary.

In the summer of 2005 I spent two weeks in China. We had very generous hosts who accommodated us in their 28th-floor apartment in Beijing, their workers’ hotel in Dezhou, and finally their vacation home in Qingdao. We were shepherded through all of the must-see cultural sights, mostly taking in the grander side of China. We also caught a few glimpses of its poverty while taking a bus trip to the Great Wall of China, but this was not an intended part of the tour …

A back road

The writer of the above article, Gina Kolata, mentions not only the heat and humidity in her article, but also the pollution. Whether it is in the air, ocean, rivers, streets, nostrils or ear drums, this pollution is omnipresent.

Noise pollution is rampant in China’s big cities. Maybe I am a bit more sensitive towards this issue as I am from Germany, the land of whispers (Germans are known to whisper in elevators and waiting rooms) and somber thinkers. Germans like to stroll through forests in search of peace and quiet. While walking down a shopping street in China, thinking and communicating becomes impossible as automatic doors sense your unassaulted body and release a blast of music into your ear. This could be the reason why Chinese visitors to Germany often remark that it is too quiet on our streets.

A busy arcade, where stores turn up the volume to capture shoppers’ attention.

On the last leg of our journey – Shanghai – we were without our generous hosts and their chauffeurs. We checked into our hotel and took our own walking tours through the lovely city of Shanghai, both old and modern.

Shanghai on a hazy afternoon

After our first excursion of the day, we returned to the hotel and noticed that we all had blackened feet. While we had been driven around by our hosts’ chauffeurs, we never had to bother walking in regular street traffic where the cars’ exhaust pipes would leave their mark on our feet. And of course, we foreigners walk around in bare sandals, whereas the locals know better and always wear socks.

Air pollution in China adds another twist unknown to most western countries – the smell of human feces. I come from a farming family and therefore am used to the summer smell of cows and pigs, its manure leaving a hearty reminder of agriculture. Well, on one of our rare drives through the country side, we smelled this very unusual odor and had to inquire about it. Available in mass amounts, human feces is a very practical fertilizer. But my senses will never quite be the same.

I will be watching the Olympics, not so much for its performances and medal-winning competitions, but more to see the athletes weather the heat, humidity, and pollution.

The two most useful Chinese words this summer in Beijing will be…..

Thank you and water

…especially once you start climbing the Great Wall of China in July.