BJ i s much better than most of the cities

Personally I find expats who enjoy complaining about every little thing in China to be quite tiresome, but for me at least, the pollution in Beijing was as bad as people said it was. Sometimes people mistake misty weather for pollution, but the measures of PM2.5 tell the real story and its not a pleasant one. Some days its fine, the sun shines and the pollution count is low, other days it looks like the first Silent Hill game and you can barely see buildings across the road. You can also definitely feel it in your lungs. As an asthma sufferer, this was the only thing that I really disliked about Beijing to the point where it made me want to be somewhere else. You need masks, you need air purifiers. The thought of pollution damaging your health stresses you out.

I still enjoyed my time in Beijing, but the pollution problem is not one that can be ignored and its best to go there prepared so you can avoid the worst of it and appreciate it when its not too bad.