Been There, Seen That

via New York Times:

It has huge reserves of coal and natural gas, a fast-growing economy and a property market so sizzling hot that virtually every house put up for sale here is immediately snapped up.

There is just one thing largely missing in the city’s extravagant new central district: people.

Ordos proper has 1.5 million residents. But the tomorrowland version of Ordos — built from scratch on a huge plot of empty land 15 miles south of the old city — is all but deserted.

I was there in June - the new city was eerily quiet, but our guide was bubbling with praise for the buildings.
Lots of cranes and new buildings, but no traffic and few people.

Glad I'm Not in China Today!

NASA Image of the Day

In early October 2010, a high-pressure weather system settled in over eastern China, and air pollution began to accumulate locally for nearly a week. By October 9 and 10, China’s National Environmental Monitoring Center declared air quality “poor” to “hazardous” around Beijing and 11 eastern provinces. Citizens were advised to take measures to protect themselves, and visibility was reduced to 100 meters (330 feet) in some areas.

It sounds like it was even worse than when I was there, which I can't imagine. It was incredibly bad in June - all along the eastern part of China the smog was so thick all of my photos look like they were taken in the rain. This is supposed to be even worse.