Major highways to Beijing have been closed as the capital and neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality were shrouded in dense fog on Saturday.

The average visibility in Beijing was less than 500 meters on Saturday morning. The city's meteorological station said the fog would continue on Sunday, and would be dispersed by a cold air on Sunday evening.

The city's environmental protection bureau said that the fog, which has dominated Beijing since Friday, deteriorated the city's air quality.

Beijing recorded "serious pollution" Saturday, which was rare during this year, according to a bulletin issued by the China Environmental Monitoring Center.

According to the China's Central Meteorological Station, ten provinces and municipalities in north, central and east China were affected by the fog.