[goleoboy]

how's the pollution in HK these days? Are there any days when the sky is actually blue? I heard some horror stories about the immense pollution happening there with visibility virtually at zero... is it THAT bad? Need to consider this before moving... ((

[Zankin]

Yes. and people there blame China for their heavy factories and crap blowing to HK. Which is true because HK doesn't have any heavy factories

[shwetapershad]

I feel, if one has small children, they should stay away from HK. It has very high pollution which is not good for them. Or even for adults.

[Sleuth]

There was just something about this in the paper the other day. Air is three times worse than NYC and twice as bad as London.
Pollution can be broken down into two basics--ground level and not ground level.
The ground level pollution is strictly a HK thing. Too many cars in too few spaces, etc....
The pollution that causes bad visibility is mostly caused by the coal fired power generators. Again a HK problem. Plus the stuff pouring out of China.
And whilst it is convenient to blame the whole thing on China, HK does virtually nothing to halt its own pollution so it is rather a lot like the pot calling the kettle black.

[Sleuth]

Sorry, that having been said, the air quality in HK is not terrible everywhere. Depends on where you end up living.

[nina_70]

I have say it is pretty bad. I grew up in Hong Kong with clear blue skies (as a kid) and then came back some 20 odd years later to a much different environment. Being away for so long I really noticed the difference. Summer is better than winter due to the change in trade-winds. This past winter was pretty awful...my work takes me outdoors most days and there were a couple of days where I got physically ill. Now, it's gettig better and past week has improved. You will see blue skies more often in the summer-time.

There's alot of things about HK that are fantastic (nightlife, business, socializing, shopping etc...), but air quality is not one of them.

[goleoboy]

yeah, i visited in Nov and it was gray everyday... haven't been back in the summer for a while... so haven't really seen blue sky unfortunately. Is HK worse than LA? Is there a website / article that ranks air pollution of major international cities so see how HK ranks? NYC air is totally clear and blue skies almost daily when the weather is nice.

[lowlight]

Originally Posted by nina_70

I have say it is pretty bad. I grew up in Hong Kong with clear blue skies (as a kid) and then came back some 20 odd years later to a much different environment.

Nevermind 20 years, I noticed a difference in the 3 years since I visited HK for the first time, then came back to move.

[timklip]

here are some figures

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/...ory_id=8931753

[PDLM]

Or if you'd prefer the source data from which that was extracted:
http://www.hko.gov.hk/cis/statistic/...tatistic_e.htm
http://www.hko.gov.hk/cis/statistic/...tatistic_e.htm