Beijing has been hidden in dense fog since Tuesday afternoon.
Visibility was less than one kilometer Wednesday morning and the
heaviest fog so far this winter resulted in the temporary closure
of five of the city's eight expressways
By Wednesday, most of northern and southwestern China, Liaoning
Province in the northeast and the lower reaches of the Yangtze
River were shrouded in mist, according to the Central
Meteorological Station (CMS).
A 217,000-square-kilometer mass of fog covered Beijing and
Tianjin municipalities, parts of east China's Shandong Province and
north China's Hebei Province Tuesday evening, said Yang Keming, a
senior engineer with the CMS.
In some of northern, central and eastern areas, the visibility
has dropped to 100 to 200 meters with the air quality rapidly
deteriorating, Yang said.
He explained that the unusually heavy fog resulted from warm,
humid air currents moving in from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to hit
the relatively cold, windless weather in these regions.
The fog is expected to remain until Saturday, when a cold front
should bring snow, rain and strong winds.
The foggy days have further slimmed Beijing's chances of
achieving its blue-sky target for the year. The city needs to see
18 days of clear skies and good air quality in December to meet the
goal.
(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2004)
