Beijing air pollution levels soar off the charts

In Beijing, pollution levels have soared off the charts in some parts of the city. The local meteorological station says the polluted air is expected to linger for the next three days.

With visibility between 600 to 800 meters, the city's residents have woken up to a thick layer of haze and smog. Official figures showed that by 5:00 PM on Saturday, the density of PM2.5 had reached 700 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of the city. The levels were even worse by 11:00 PM, where the air quality index had gone off the chart, up to 900.

In the Xizhimen area, west of the city, the figure reached 993 micrograms per cubic meter. The index indicates the level of airborne particulates, at which particle matters are considered the most harmful to health. Air is considered good when the index is at 50 or below, but hazardous with a reading over 300, a level at which people are warned to avoid outdoor physical activities.