Air quality here in Shanghai is as bad today as I've ever seen it, in 10 years. In the past hour, the US Consulate particulate count pushed over 300, to 306, described as "hazardous." The government AQI index, which factors in PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2, inched up to 284, described as "heavily polluted." These indices are higher than Beijing's, which stand today at 290 (US Embassy) and 197 (gov AQI).

Buildings I normally can see 1-2 km away from my apartment have disappeared from the gray cityscape. That's still better than a few days ago in Beijing, where visibility was put at 200m, and Changsha, where it was a preposterous 50m. Imagine not being able to see across the street for the smog!!! Shanghai today truly is "the big smoke" as TB-Racing is wont to call it.

I'm staying indoors today, and I'm feeling a strong twinge of envy for Motokai, who flew down to Sanya on Saturday. Today's government AQI for Sanya? It's 13.