Eric's Beijing Diary

Well, the fever finally broke. Rained all day yesterday, and today the sky was blue and the weather is beautiful. It has been hot and humid for the past month. I missed three weeks of it, because I went to the West. Actually a little over two weeks, because I did spend a few days in Xi'an, and Xi'an was as bad or worse than Beijing. Most of the year, Beijing is like Kashgar. But from the middle of July to the middle of August, Beijing is a steam bath. And I just heard that the local Olympic committee selected August 8, 2008 as the opening day of the Olympics (eight is a lucky number). Woe to a country so devoid of faith that it must rely on superstition to determine what common sense could better decide! If they are really lucky, it may be cooling off by then. But I doubt it. Beijing is literally a steam bath between July 15 and August 15.