The sun is out ... but it has to battle to penetrate Beijing's ever-present shroud of air pollution. Photo / Kenny Rodger
"Where do you come from?" the young volunteer asked.
New Zealand.
"It is a lovely country," she replied.
Well, yes.
"You have beautiful ire."
Come again?
"You have beautiful ire," she repeated, pointing skywards.
Ah yes, the air. The penny dropped.
That in a nutshell sums up what
everyone's talking about in Beijing, to the point where it's becoming tedious.
The air in Beijing is what it is. It's far from perfect, but best the athletes roll their sleeves up and get on with it. The atmosphere's not going anywhere.
Someone reckoned yesterday - with what he claimed was scientific support - that spending yesterday in the thick haze that enveloped the city equated to smoking 70 cigarettes.
So if you're a smoker, this might be nicotine nirvana; if you're not, it's a real drag.
Early yesterday morning, the giant electricity pylons lining the avenue heading towards the Olympic headquarters were partly obscured in a fug.
Dave Currie, New Zealand's chef de mission, has been in Beijing for a couple of weeks. He is not unduly perturbed, referring to yesterday's conditions as "sea fog".
He was here a year ago and "my sense is certainly far different to what it was 12 months ago".
The Beijing Weather Modification Office spokesman says "modification of clouds and rain" is at "the early stage of experimentation".
Contingency plans are in place, hinting at tinkering with nature.
Athletes Currie had spoken to were untroubled by the conditions - although that doesn't mean they are pleased with them.
The temperature has ranged from about 37C with 50 per cent humidity down to 33C, but with 70-75 per cent humidity.
"The general consensus is that the environment hasn't affected training at all," Currie said. "The air quality generally hasn't been a concern."
And if the athletes are happy, that's all the counts. In any case it's too late to raise their ire.
Smog levels
On a "very smoggy" day, levels of air pollutants in Auckland's Queen St and Khyber Pass Rd reach 35-40 micrograms per cubic metre.
That is about one-tenth of Beijing's 321mcg/cm3.
