Above is a glorious sunny winter day in Urumqi! These are very rare, but can occur once every two weeks or so if the wind is blowing the smoke out of the city to the north. The depressing picture below it is, unfortunately, a normal afternoon in January. This picture was taken on a cloudless, "sunny" day, at the same time and location as the one above it. But those beautiful mountains and most of the buildings have disappeared! Then there are days when it starts out nice like the first picture, then suddenly the wind shifts and within 10 minutes the smoke has enveloped the city and it looks like the picture on the bottom. Indeed, Urumqi would be a beautiful winter city if it weren't for the coal smoke!