Beijing seems to spike much greater in both directions than Chengdu – yeah, over last 30 days it appears to be on par – but over the year, it’s far worse. Spring in Beijing is generally double Chengdu.
Either way, both cities air quality is SHIT, hazardous for elderly and children, and likely the reason I’ll do my best to transfer to Sydney when my baby pops out. Not very nice to let baby fill tiny lungs with first breath of air as polluted as Chengdu 🙁