Putting it to good use as blog filler

I'm finishing up a piece I'm writing for that gig-to-be-anounced. It is taking up my usual spare blogging time.  I do have an entire paragraph that I just cut that I don't want to delete entirely.  Even though I am listening to a Tim Gunn-sounding voice in my head ("Look at this with an editing eye?"), I am not ready to send it into oblivion.  For what I am writing (for a largely expat and local English speaking audience), it is probably extraneous. Don't hate on it too much.

We arrived in February, not Beijing's best month. Winter's lingering cold meant grey skies, grey air, and a coating of coal dust on everything not moving. The Beijingers barely peeking out from puffy layers did not seem to the be the friendly lot we were told by all our Chinese friends we would no doubt encounter. After two and a half years in the perpetually green (and much, much warmer) Shenzhen, we were now wondering what were we thinking when we accepted this move, or at least our timing. Of course, spring eventually arrived. The air cleared, and layers were shed. We were able to meet our neighbors and acquaint ourselves better with Changping, our new home.