Today is Yom Kippur. I am fasting.

The air was bad yesterday. Visibility was less than one kilometer. The air stank, it made my lungs hurt, it made my eyes hurt. I went for a walk with Neal through some rather depressing outskirts. I was not shocked. It was much like Pingdingshan or any other second rate Chinese city. The sights and smells remind me that China is a developing country in that it has a long road of development ahead of it.

Last night I went to a health club in the business district of Beijing to attend Kol Nidre services. The crowd was mostly American of various ages. To my surprise there were quite a few people there, perhaps as many as 200. Among these there were several Jewish men with Chinese wives and mixed children. As I did not attend the 150 kuai dinner beforehand, I did not really get to meet people, but perhaps today will be better. Being there reminded me of the "hotness" of China and Beijing right now. Here was a whole crowd of foreigners, and just one small subset of foreigners at that, who were all coming to live and work in Beijing. It was also good to get some sense of community. That, wherever I am in the world, I can always find other Jews with whom to spend the High Holidays.

Well, the weather is better today... maybe I should enjoy it...

Marc