China: thoughts on masks?

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Just wondering whether anyone has thoughts on travel to China and whether to wear a mask in the more polluted areas (i.e. Beijing). I was going to buy the disposable type mentioned in this article http://davidsbeenhere.com/2016/01/26/choosing-an-air-pollution-mask-for-china/ just to have in case it's bad, but wondering whether (1) previous Adventurers thought it was necessary and (2) whether ABD had any available.

P.S. Just saw an article about the horrible sand storm in Beijing! Yikes. Hope we don't have that in a few weeks! My 4 week countdown starts tomorrow.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

We on the trip in June, 2016. We never had any issues with pollution -- our days in Beijing were some of the nicest weather -- sunny with clear skies (and very hot).

ABD didn't have any masks available (at least not that I was made aware of) and no one in our group wore one.

One thing I would suggest is waterproof rain gear. Not water resistant (like I made the mistake of packing). My jacket was soaked through in less than 5 minutes. The ABD guides do have the clear rain ponchos available but they were running short towards the end of the trip (it rained A LOT while we were there).

Of course do whatever makes you feel comfortable with respect to the masks.

 

[Cousin Orville]

We brought 3M disposable masks 2 summers ago, but we didn't feel the need to wear them. I'll probably do the same for this Fall's trip just in case. It rained one night in Beijing, and next day was beautiful and clear. I've heard the Winter months are much worse when they start burning coal around the city.

 

[Calfan]

We did not bring masks with us last July, and I never wished I had one. We weren't bothered by the pollution other than visually in that it would have been nice to have a truly blue sky for some of our pictures, but we had hazy blue at best. We didn't have any rain on our trip though.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We on the trip in June, 2016. We never had any issues with pollution -- our days in Beijing were some of the nicest weather -- sunny with clear skies (and very hot).

ABD didn't have any masks available (at least not that I was made aware of) and no one in our group wore one.

One thing I would suggest is waterproof rain gear. Not water resistant (like I made the mistake of packing). My jacket was soaked through in less than 5 minutes. The ABD guides do have the clear rain ponchos available but they were running short towards the end of the trip (it rained A LOT while we were there).

Of course do whatever makes you feel comfortable with respect to the masks.

We brought 3M disposable masks 2 summers ago, but we didn't feel the need to wear them. I'll probably do the same for this Fall's trip just in case. It rained one night in Beijing, and next day was beautiful and clear. I've heard the Winter months are much worse when they start burning coal around the city.

We did not bring masks with us last July, and I never wished I had one. We weren't bothered by the pollution other than visually in that it would have been nice to have a truly blue sky for some of our pictures, but we had hazy blue at best. We didn't have any rain on our trip though.

Thank you guys so much for the responses! I did a little more research, and it does look like June is a pretty decent month comparitively in the areas we will be traveling, but just in case of another sand/dust storm or a really bad pollution day, I went ahead and ordered the disposable 3M masks that article recommended. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, and i'm such a germaphobe anyway, I may want one anyway for the big cities where I hear there can be quite a lot of coughing and hacking

 

[CaliKris]

We just ordered the disposable masks as well. I would rather bring them and not need them then not have them and feel like I need one
I grew up in LA and had to be sent home from school on smoggy days because I couldn't breathe. Brings back some memories of what air pollution can do to you.

 

[Calfan]

Thank you guys so much for the responses! I did a little more research, and it does look like June is a pretty decent month comparitively in the areas we will be traveling, but just in case of another sand/dust storm or a really bad pollution day, I went ahead and ordered the disposable 3M masks that article recommended. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, and i'm such a germaphobe anyway, I may want one anyway for the big cities where I hear there can be quite a lot of coughing and hacking

The airports and internal flights are actually the worst for that. Yuck!!!

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Just wondering whether anyone has thoughts on travel to China and whether to wear a mask in the more polluted areas (i.e. Beijing). I was going to buy the disposable type mentioned in this article http://davidsbeenhere.com/2016/01/26/choosing-an-air-pollution-mask-for-china/ just to have in case it's bad, but wondering whether (1) previous Adventurers thought it was necessary and (2) whether ABD had any available.

P.S. Just saw an article about the horrible sand storm in Beijing! Yikes. Hope we don't have that in a few weeks! My 4 week countdown starts tomorrow.

I would bring a mask

 

[Westcoastwild]

Thank you guys so much for the responses! I did a little more research, and it does look like June is a pretty decent month comparitively in the areas we will be traveling, but just in case of another sand/dust storm or a really bad pollution day, I went ahead and ordered the disposable 3M masks that article recommended. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, and i'm such a germaphobe anyway, I may want one anyway for the big cities where I hear there can be quite a lot of coughing and hacking

The guide book I was reading said it was actually generally sick people wearing them to prevent spreading a bug. Or people prone to allergens. Rather than a pollution or preventive medicine measure.

I would honestly assume you can get them there no problem, so wouldn't bother packing them

 

[Cousin Orville]

The guide book I was reading said it was actually generally sick people wearing them to prevent spreading a bug. Or people prone to allergens. Rather than a pollution or preventive medicine measure.

I would honestly assume you can get them there no problem, so wouldn't bother packing them

I think you'd want a mask with some filtration involved. I think those who are sick are just wearing a simple surgical masks.

Here's what I brought:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YKBV2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I never needed them, but I'll probably bring them again in October just in case.

Here's a review of masks specific to Beijing pollution:
http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/prevention/how-good-are-masks-for-pollution/

There are websites that report the pollution level: http://aqicn.org/city/beijing/us-embassy/

 

[Cousin Orville]

Interesting comparison taken just now:

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

The airports and internal flights are actually the worst for that. Yuck!!!

Double yuck. I remember you mentioning this.

I think you'd want a mask with some filtration involved. I think those who are sick are just wearing a simple surgical masks.

Exactly! I bought the one recommended in the blog I quoted earlier--the 3M with filtration.

Interesting comparison taken just now:
View attachment 235640View attachment 235641

Super interesting. Those Maroon numbers aren't good! Glad Henan isn't on the itinerary (I think that's where most of the maroons are clustered).