Photography and Article by BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN
Unidentified gases spew out of smokestacks scratching Harbin's skyline. The seventh and eighth floors of the dormitories of Heilongjiang University have a view of the factories to the south of campus. On the rainy day of July 18, 2008, the gases look particularly black. When rain and wind do not carry the smoke away, the air takes on the taste and smell of the pollutants. A Chinese student at Heigong University describes the "air flavors" (气味 qiwei) as either sour, sweet, spicy, bitter, or fragrant. Each day in early June the air smelled either pungently bitter or sickeningly sweet. However, today the air smells relatively fragrant. Perhaps the wind has changed direction.