Beijing Dust Storm, 1979

Chang An  Ave, Beijing

Forbidden City, 1980

Beijing is on the edge of the Loess Plateau, an area bound by a huge 500-mile bend of the Yellow River and known for its fine sand, almost like ground flour. Each spring, the sand would descend upon Beijing like Bartholomew's Oobleck - there was no way to keep it out of your mouth or any other part of your body, even if you kept your windows closed. It was just everywhere. Sometimes it blew in with a storm, other times it just descended quietly overnight like the first snow of winter - as it did in this photo. 

Gear: Pentax MX. Kodachrome. Scanned with Epson V700.

This and other landscape photos are part of the "Flo Sho" gallery, which consists of images that we are planning to use for a new productivity app.