Heavy fog shrouded east China's Shandong province Saturday, crippling traffic, closing expressways and delaying flights.

Visibility was reduced to less than 200 meters in different parts of the province, and less than 50 meters in a few areas, according to the Shandong Provincial Meteorological Center.

Local authorities have been forced to shut five expressways, they said, and more than 40 flights at an airport in the provincial capital of Jinan have been delayed or canceled.

The thick fog is yet to disperse.