--- title: China: Academic Yu Dan Advises on How to Cope With Air Pollution description: It's the lungs rather than the heart that most people are worried about — but never mind canonical: https://time.com/9185/coping-with-china-pollution/ author: Hannah Beech article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-24T07:20:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:27:50.311Z article:section: World og:title: China: Academic Yu Dan Advises on How to Cope With Air Pollution og:description: It's the lungs rather than the heart that most people are worried about — but never mind og:url: https://time.com/9185/coping-with-china-pollution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd579f03be3df91f1/698682f1169ab0ee8e277fa3/china_smog_0224.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: china_smog_0224 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China: Academic Yu Dan Advises on How to Cope With Air Pollution twitter:description: It's the lungs rather than the heart that most people are worried about — but never mind twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd579f03be3df91f1/698682f1169ab0ee8e277fa3/china_smog_0224.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Q: How to Deal With China's Smog? A: Don't Let the Haze Into Your Heart by [Hannah Beech](/author/hannah-beech/) ## Hannah Beech Feb 24, 2014 7:20 AM CUT  A man and his dog, both wearing masks, walk along a small alley on a hazy day in Beijing on Feb. 23, 2014 A man and his dog, both wearing masks, walk along a small alley on a hazy day in Beijing on Feb. 23, 2014Liu Chang / Legal Evening / Reuters by [Hannah Beech](/author/hannah-beech/) ## Hannah Beech Feb 24, 2014 7:20 AM CUT With around 15% of China covered by a persistent smog, Yu Dan, a Beijing academic and social commentator, has dispensed [advice](http://www.weibo.com/yudan "undefined") on Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform: “Close the doors and windows, turn on the air purifier.” Compared with the Beijing government’s guidance — which included a prohibition on outdoor barbecues, as if _that_ was the real cause of the bad air — the Feb. 23 suggestions from the media-studies professor at Beijing Normal University seemed practical enough. But Yu’s greatest counsel for those living in “a city without sunlight” was psychological. “If all those \[other methods\] don’t work, all you can depend on is your mental protection,” she wrote. “Don’t let the haze into your heart.” Yu’s recommendation has generated a Weibo backlash. Li Chengpeng, a former journalist and Weibo celebrity, [retorted](http://www.weibo.com/lichengpeng "undefined"): “With your mental protection, I will be able to defeat both the haze and lasers.” He was referring to a military analyst’s infamous comment on state television that China’s smog could be the country’s best defense against U.S. laser weaponry. China’s current noxious air is forecast to linger until at least Thursday. Beijing has, for the first time, raised its new smog-alert system to orange, the second highest tier of the color-coded scale. On Feb. 24, the _Global Times_, a Beijing-based newspaper with links to the Communist Party, ran a [picture](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/844337.shtml#.UwrKul65HqO "undefined") of a mask-wearing Beijing resident taking his golden retriever for a walk in the smog. The dog was also wearing a mask. _— With reporting by Chengcheng Jiang / Beijing_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9185/coping-with-china-pollution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9185/coping-with-china-pollution/"},"headline":"Q: How to Deal With China's Smog? 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