Beijing is probably the greyest city I've experienced... except perhaps Aberdeen. Whereas Aberdeen's grey comes from its granite buildings and naturally overcast skies, Beijing's grey is a mixture of grey brick buildings and unnaturally fogged out skies.
Beijing's air pollution became an internationally newsworthy subject of scrutiny during the buildup to the 2008 Olympics, but drastic measures and favourable weather saved the day. My experience of its poor air quality consisted of an almost perpetual grey and unnatural fog. Despite the poor air quality, Beijing felt more colourful than Aberdeen thanks to the people, the street life and energy of the place... but conceivably that was just me projecting my excitement onto the engaging new culture I was exploring – it's easy to dismiss the familiar as unexciting.
An orange makes a good point of reference to just how grey Beijing is!
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