Oh What a Rainstorm!

This might be a good time to report about the weather since Beijing just had the biggest rain storm in 60 some years. Fortunately, I watched the whole thing from my apartment. I was planning on getting out and about for a little while Saturday afternoon, but the storm moved in before I left my humble home. It was pretty exciting. About 1:00 p.m. the sky went absolutely black as night, and remained that way for about 30 minutes. During that time, the heavens let loose with a massive amount of rain which was to continue for the next ten hours. Some parts of the city received as much as 18 inches of rain. I was talking about the storm with some people at church today. One woman said she had to walk from the subway to her home in water that hit the middle of her calves. Ten people died in Beijing, as well as some others in the surrounding areas. There are some pictures on some of the news sites such as Yahoo and Google News if you want to see the results of so much rain. (Click here for the CNN pictures.)  The weathermen predicted that today would bring more of the same. However, it was a beautiful day. The storm pushed out all the pollution, and the sky was clear, blue and beautiful. I took a picture out my window this morning and this evening because for the first time since I arrived in Beijing, I could see the mountains that are about 15 or 20 miles to the west. I had no idea they even existed until today.

Surprised to see mountains out my window. So surprised I didn’t hold the camera straight.

Evening picture of the same view.

Sunset is beautiful in any country.