March 20, 2010 – We have a sand storm today…from our newspaper back home - The Idaho Statesman it reads: BEIJING — Tons of sand turned Beijing's sky orange as the strongest sandstorm this year hit northern China, a gritty reminder that the country's expanding deserts have led to a sharp increase in the storms.
The sky glowed Saturday and a thin dusting of sand covered Beijing, causing workers and tourists to muffle their faces in vast Tiananmen Square. The city's weather bureau gave air quality a rare hazardous ranking.
Air quality is "very bad for the health," China's national weather bureau warned. It said people should cover their mouths when outside and keep doors and windows closed.
China's expanding deserts now cover one-third of the country because of overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought. The shifting sands have led to a sharp increase in sandstorms - the grit from which can travel as far as the western United States.
The latest sandstorm also hit the regions of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia and the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei, affecting about 250 million people over an area of 312,000 square miles (810,000 square kilometers), the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
As the sandstorm moved southeast, South Korea's national weather agency issued a yellow dust advisory for Seoul and other parts of the country.
Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said the yellow dust was expected to hit the Korean peninsula beginning Saturday afternoon and it would be "the worst yellow dust" this year.
Some flights at Beijing's international airport were delayed but eventually took off, said a woman answering phones at the airport hot line.
China has planted thousands of acres of vegetation in recent years to stop the spread of deserts in its north and west, but experts have said the work will take decades.
"The challenges ahead are still huge," China said in a report to the United Nations in 2006.
The worst recent sandstorm to hit Beijing was in 2006, when about 300,000 tons of sand were dumped on the capital.
"The situation improved tremendously after that. Thanks to the mild climate and conservation efforts, Beijing had only one sandstorm last year," Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Station, told Xinhua on Saturday.
The closest desert area to Beijing is about 500 miles away, in the region of Inner Mongolia, Guo said.
China's dust storms were at their worst in the 1950s and '60s after campaigns to raise farm and factory output following the 1949 communist revolution stripped the soil of vegetation.
Because of those campaigns, archaeologists have found that sandstorms are reducing some packed-earth sections of the Great Wall in western China to "mounds of dirt" that may disappear in 20 years.
Today we also had our Relief Society (women’s group for church) Women’s Conference here in Beijing. I had to go out in the sandstorm to catch a taxi, luckily it wasn’t as bad where we were as many of the pictures. We had a wonderful time with Katie Hoskin as our keynote speaker. She spoke on “Charity Never Faileth” and how that actually pertains to us now. After her talk we had the opportunity to assemble hygiene kits for those in need here in China. All the items were donated by the women and we actually were able to finish 270 kits and had many more that were missing some items. Each kit was in a 1 gallon plastic bag and consisted of: 2 hand towels, 4 toothbrushes, 1 tube of toothpaste, 2 bars of soap and 2 combs. What a blessing to be able to help others in this manner! We had a wonderful time!
March 21, 2010 – today we went to church as usual. The sandstorm is pretty much over today, just the remnants all over the buildings, streets and cars. Everything is covered in a layer of dust! Over the pulpit they announced the loss of a baby for the Jensen family. It seems that she was due to deliver next week but was not feeling any movement of the baby so went to the doctor. Unfortunately, the baby had passed away so they induced her to deliver the baby. Our hearts go out to them. We pray that the Lord will envelop them with his arms of love and comfort at this time.
March 22, 2010 – Floyd had meetings late tonight as they try to wrap things up on this visit.
March 23, 2010 – Happy Birthday to Floyd’s “little” sister, Dorothy Pena!
March 26, 2010 – we headed back home to Meridian, Idaho. It is good to get home and visit with the kids and grandkids. We miss them while we are in China and enjoy seeing them. Our flight was uneventful, we rested well on the flight so we felt good when we got home.
The sky glowed Saturday and a thin dusting of sand covered Beijing, causing workers and tourists to muffle their faces in vast Tiananmen Square. The city's weather bureau gave air quality a rare hazardous ranking.
Air quality is "very bad for the health," China's national weather bureau warned. It said people should cover their mouths when outside and keep doors and windows closed.
China's expanding deserts now cover one-third of the country because of overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought. The shifting sands have led to a sharp increase in sandstorms - the grit from which can travel as far as the western United States.
The latest sandstorm also hit the regions of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia and the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei, affecting about 250 million people over an area of 312,000 square miles (810,000 square kilometers), the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
As the sandstorm moved southeast, South Korea's national weather agency issued a yellow dust advisory for Seoul and other parts of the country.
Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said the yellow dust was expected to hit the Korean peninsula beginning Saturday afternoon and it would be "the worst yellow dust" this year.
Some flights at Beijing's international airport were delayed but eventually took off, said a woman answering phones at the airport hot line.
China has planted thousands of acres of vegetation in recent years to stop the spread of deserts in its north and west, but experts have said the work will take decades.
"The challenges ahead are still huge," China said in a report to the United Nations in 2006.
The worst recent sandstorm to hit Beijing was in 2006, when about 300,000 tons of sand were dumped on the capital.
"The situation improved tremendously after that. Thanks to the mild climate and conservation efforts, Beijing had only one sandstorm last year," Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Station, told Xinhua on Saturday.
The closest desert area to Beijing is about 500 miles away, in the region of Inner Mongolia, Guo said.
China's dust storms were at their worst in the 1950s and '60s after campaigns to raise farm and factory output following the 1949 communist revolution stripped the soil of vegetation.
Because of those campaigns, archaeologists have found that sandstorms are reducing some packed-earth sections of the Great Wall in western China to "mounds of dirt" that may disappear in 20 years.
Today we also had our Relief Society (women’s group for church) Women’s Conference here in Beijing. I had to go out in the sandstorm to catch a taxi, luckily it wasn’t as bad where we were as many of the pictures. We had a wonderful time with Katie Hoskin as our keynote speaker. She spoke on “Charity Never Faileth” and how that actually pertains to us now. After her talk we had the opportunity to assemble hygiene kits for those in need here in China. All the items were donated by the women and we actually were able to finish 270 kits and had many more that were missing some items. Each kit was in a 1 gallon plastic bag and consisted of: 2 hand towels, 4 toothbrushes, 1 tube of toothpaste, 2 bars of soap and 2 combs. What a blessing to be able to help others in this manner! We had a wonderful time!
March 21, 2010 – today we went to church as usual. The sandstorm is pretty much over today, just the remnants all over the buildings, streets and cars. Everything is covered in a layer of dust! Over the pulpit they announced the loss of a baby for the Jensen family. It seems that she was due to deliver next week but was not feeling any movement of the baby so went to the doctor. Unfortunately, the baby had passed away so they induced her to deliver the baby. Our hearts go out to them. We pray that the Lord will envelop them with his arms of love and comfort at this time.
March 22, 2010 – Floyd had meetings late tonight as they try to wrap things up on this visit.
March 23, 2010 – Happy Birthday to Floyd’s “little” sister, Dorothy Pena!
March 26, 2010 – we headed back home to Meridian, Idaho. It is good to get home and visit with the kids and grandkids. We miss them while we are in China and enjoy seeing them. Our flight was uneventful, we rested well on the flight so we felt good when we got home.
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