We arrived back from beautiful Yangshuo to the pollution of Shanghai. The AQI (Air Quality Index) reading was over 300. Shanghai has never been this high in the AQI readings. Beijing had many bad pollution days last winter, but Shanghai stayed under 300.

On Friday, we woke up to 400 AQI. A fog had rolled into Shanghai. The pollution attached to the fog to create the worst pollution index to date. By mid-day, the AQI was over 500.

This is the view from our deck that morning…

Same view on a clear day…

Over the weekend, the AQI cleared to drop below 300. On Monday morning, we checked the AQI levels before sending the girls off to school. The levels were the low 200s. By the time the girls arrived to school, the air quality spiked to over 400AQI. Concordia cancelled school and the girls returned home for a POLLUTION DAY – that is a new one!

The girls spent the morning doing homework. After lunch, we went over to the Lee/Wang’s for an afternoon play. Ellie and Eleri have been playing more this year which is nice as they live four blocks from us at Tomson Rivera. Since Emersyn and Ethan have classes together this year, they have become friends. We all had a fun afternoon “hanging” at the Wang’s home…just like a snow day! However, we are hoping for no more Pollution Days!