Traveling to cities with extremely high air pollution

Both Delhi in India and Beijing in China are well-known for extreme air pollution which even goes so high that measurement devices are off the scale.

Picture by Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier, flickr, 2001-01-12, CC BY-SA 2.0

The numerical values of pollution does not say how much it influences the normal traveller in activities when he/she visits such cities. Is it a minor inconvenience or are you literally choking? How about walking or sleeping during night? Is the effect tolerable for a short time, does it get worse or are you adjusting to it?

How do you prepare if you want to visit such cities? Do you buy face masks and do they work? Do you visit such cities even if you have already a respiratory problem?

health cities

Best Answer

It depends of course on your personal health and reaction, but generally you get used to it within hours, and don't feel any effect. It will be always visible, of course, and often shockingly so, but most visitors feel no direct ill effects.

I have after some days a bit of itching in the eyes, but wetting them a dozen times a day with some water remedied that.

So unless you have asthmatic issues or other breathing issues, you should be fine. Any long term impacts are probably negligible unless you stay for many months.