FurryTiles

Hi everyone!

We’re off for six days in Beijing next month, the first leg of our six week rtw adventure. Have been reading all the trip reports, as well as the many threads on pollution in China, and unfortunately there are quite a few travellers who have become ill with throat/upper respiratory infections due to high pollution; the most recent - LostinChina’s trip report - mentions three of her party affected by pollution-caused illness.

So am hoping for some tips on preventing pollution-based health probs along the lines of throat gargles? Sprays? Tablets? Will have multi-purpose antibiotics in our medical kit, but prevention would be so much better than cure. Or wearing a face mask.

Wonder if my mum’s old remedy of gargling regularly with warm salt water would compete with son’s remedy of TCM herbal teas?

All tips gratefully received, koff cough coff (just practising
Jackie

rkkwan

I don't think you'll get affected by it within 6 days. My own experience, and my relatives', is that one may start coughing after 10-14 days.

I don't know when LostinChina's travelmate start having their problem.

FurryTiles

Sorry, I had included 'China - Beijing' in the title, but that bit didn't appear when posted.

Hi rkkwan, yes saw your previous posts on many threads that you/relatives usually get symptoms after 10-14 days, and that was actually one of the reasons I started <i>another</i> pollution thread on prevention. As mentioned, this is the start of our trip and I was hoping to prevent the Beijing Cough (or worse) resonating throughout the remaining five weeks.

LostinChina's travel mates, from her post, seemed to get ill during their stay in Beijing ...

Author: LostinChina
Date: 07/04/2007, 04:54 pm
Pat,
The pollution was very bad, but we didn't end up using masks. [...]
Two in our party got upper respiratory illness probably triggered by pollution and is still sick here at home.&quot;

Ooops, I said three in my OP, sorry.quot;&gt;

Jackie

rkkwan

Yes, I read that, but it's not 100% clear to me if it really happens in Beijing or later on.

FurryTiles

Wow, could we be this lucky??

Tip to minimise Beijing pollution impact = go when there's a ban on cars!

From the <i>China Daily</i> 5July07:
&quot;Beijing to Rehearse Olympics Traffic Control in August&quot;

'. . . The Beijing government will haul vehicles off roads for two weeks in August to rehearse traffic control measures for next year's Beijing Olympics, organizers of the event said.
City authorities will clear Beijing's roads of about one million vehicles between August 7 and 20, said sources with the Beijing organizing committee of the Olympic Games. . .

=D&gt;

LeighTravelClub

We spent 16 days in China late May/early June. We were very aware of pollution at all times, but it was only on the last few days that my wife became somewhat poorly. It took her maybe three weeks after our return before she felt fit again.
Don't know what to sudgest to combat this issue, in in our experience, pollution in China is a HUGE problem.
We visited Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Xian, and Shanghai and it was pretty much the same everywhere.

FurryTiles

Hi Leigh, yes read your tr, which you were writing as your wife was bedridden with urti - and I remembered you saying how happy you were to be home. Hope your DW is now fully recovered and you're enjoying a great UK summer.

Most of the other pollution threads here are on the theme of &quot;is it really as bad as they say&quot; or &quot;did you get sick/suffer?&quot; so this one is accepting that the pollution is severe/extreme and looking for tips to minimise the health impact to visitors.

Found a few tips on the Net, but none are really helpful.

No magic pill or potion, darn

Jackie

petitepois

I've said this before and I'll say it again -- in four years of living in China I never got sick from the pollution -- and nor did any of my friends who also live there. Granted, the pollution definitely affected my mental health (it's depressing day after day)... but I highly doubt that you'll have problems after only six days.

baaj

I lived in Beijing for 5 years and hosted many friends, family and business partners visiting from Europe and the US who each stayed in Beijing for no longer than 10 days on acreage. No problems for any, except for the one who tried to run a few miles outside each morning.

That said, living there triggered upper respiratory problems I never knew I had. I became asthmatic, having to medicate daily. Though that has all but vanished now that I am home breathing the (relatively) clean air of New York City.

So, unless you already have health problems, I wouldn't worry too much. And if you have to run, make sure your hotel has a treadmill.

http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/air-list.php3
This is a link to the governments pollution index which is updated daily. These stats, like so many others in China, do not reflect the reality, but you can still identify trends in pollution over the year.

LostinChina

Actually the illness experienced in Beijing was more of the traveller's diarrhea type. That was resolved fairly quickly. The illness that might have been pollution related was after about 9-10 days in China and then after 14 days. That would follow what rkkwan said. Somehow the exposure to the pollution at that time period caused us problems.

I was seeking to find a way to avoid the problem too, like you are now. Somehow wearing a mask didn't seem realistic. You could try it. Not sure if it would help, but couldn't hurt. I bought the &quot;I can breathe&quot; masks from Magellan. The ad said a MUST for anyone travelling to China. That sold me right there. But again , there was NO ONE wearing masks there except for the couple or so we saw cleaning up the trash.

rploehn

Hi everyone,

Sometimes your throat and/or sinuses get irritated with the smog. Please carry a small bottle of water with you at all times. Everywhere. This is not for thirst. About every 15 to 30 minutes, take a little sip just to wet your mouth and throat. That keeps the irritation down and then the germs have less chance of grabbing hold for more serious problems.

Why carry a little bottle? For thirst I carry a larger one, sometimes cold. For the throat, I have a small one I never chug. I used to forget, chug and empty the big bottle, on a bus or otherwise not near a convenience store, and then get a sore throat.

I have walked on the streets under the expressways in Shanghai, one of the worst places for fumes, and have avoided sore throats and coughes this way. I carry the small bottle in my camera bag.

baaj

There's also the cultural aspect in wearing masks in China. The Chinese usually wear masks when they are sick - to prevent transmission, rather than as a preventative measure.

FurryTiles

Hi everyone, just back from our wonderful rtw trip, and thought I’d report on our experience of pollution during our 6 night stay in Beijing last month.

We were prepared with lots of info – and determined to make our ‘expeditions’ in shorter sessions with a relaxing veg-out and cool shower at our wonderful airconditioned hutong hotel between excursions - also to prevent heat exhaustion; it was extremely hot and humid. We just loved our stay in Beijing, enjoying every minute of it, including marvelling at the level of pollution which made visibility like a scene from the old Shangri-La movie!

(As an aside, we did see quite a few local service people wearing masks, those at kiosks on busy roads or outside tourist attractions. As well, the family groups on their little stools on the roadsides usually had one or two of the women members covering their nose/mouth with scarves.)

Rkkwan and petitepois' predictions proved 100% correct – we did not suffer any side-effects or even minor irritations even though the level of pollution was high; we followed rploehn's advice, and kept sipping water to flush our throats during our many independent discovery walks around the city, taking many breaks in the shade or in a cafe, or browsing local shops.

I checked the FirstDefence nasal spray recommended by another Fodorite, but user reviews on the side-effects decided against it – (it’s also available here in Australia.)

What we did have in our pockets, and never used, were Strepsils anti-bacterial throat lozenges to suck if we felt the slightest sore throat.

Beijing was exciting, fun, friendly and an experience not to be missed – so glad we went before all the planned ‘changes’ have taken effect for the 2008 Olympics, so we got to experience it pre the ‘final beautification’ artificiality.

Will update the thread on our marvellous little traditional Chinese courtyard hotel (the Spring Garden) in the Nanwei hutong with a review and post the link here. It was a gem!

Cheers,
Jackie

FurryTiles

Here's the link to the thread reviewing our stay at the Spring Garden

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34983935

J.