Riding through a storm of fiber glass

It is now summer here. Nanjing is one of those places that turns from rainy and cold one week, to hot and summery the next. My speaking tutor, Yan Huanhuan, had been telling me recently about this stuff that the trees put off during the hot weather, and that she likes to wear a face mask when she's out and about. I had chalked it up to Chinese paranoia about health (i.e. drinking hot water, not going out with your hair wet, wearing more clothes, especially socks, etc). But yesterday I was on my bike riding across town to my gym, and the wind was blowing. And this stuff, which was in piles on the sides of the road, was floating all around. I looked down at one point, and there were all these hairs on my jacket, and I though, ew, I must have biked past a hair salon while they were sweeping the cuttings out onto the street (which is pretty gross, you can find piles of hair on the sidewalks outside of salons). But then I realized what it was. Just like she said it would, it got in my nose. But worst of all, it got into my eyes. The stuff isn't pollen, it's more like really fine hairs about half an inch long. It's like fiber glass, like the fibers of insulation. It gets everywhere and itches and burns, and makes your eyes all swollen. I'll try to get a picture of it to post here. Next time a Chinese person tells me about health tips I won't dismiss it, like I did this. But I don't really know what there is to be done about it, besides wearing a hazmat suit whenever I go outside.