The Forbidden City is shrouded in fog in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 23, 2013. The air quality hit the level of serious pollution in Beijing on Wednesday, as smog blanketed the city. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)
Air quality in Beijing hit dangerous levels again on Wednesday, with smog blanketing the city.
At 3 p.m., air quality indices at most monitoring stations in the city proper ranged from 311 to 400, a serious level, according to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.
A high concentration of pollutants was detected moving from the southeast at 3 p.m. Tuesday before shrouding the entire city, said an official from the center.
Readings for PM2.5, or airborne particles measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can deeply penetrate the lungs, reached 200 to 300 micrograms per cubic meter, indicating heavy pollution, he said.
The weather forecasting bureau has issued yellow alerts for both fog and smog, the third-highest level in China's four-tier color-coded weather warning system.
Visibility in south Beijing will fall below 500 meters on Wednesday and most of the city will see visibility drop to less than 3,000 meters.
Wu Xiao, a resident of south Beijing, said she has prepared a special mask that was purchased from overseas for her son.
Wu said the smog has sickened nearly her entire family. "My child has red eyes, my mother-in-law suffers from asthma and I also caught the 'Beijing cough'," she said.
The term "Beijing cough" has been in use since the 1990s among foreigners in reference to the chronic respiratory problems they began to experience after arriving in Beijing. But the term did not become more widely known until recently, when more health problems directly attributable to the current air pollution were reported.
Beijingers suffered from heavy smog from Jan. 10 to 16 before the pollution was dispersed by a cold front that brought strong winds. Air quality indices were off the charts during the seven days, exceeding the "maximum" level of 500 in the city, as well as in many other cities in central and north China.
According to weather forecasts, strong winds with speeds of 20 to 30 km per hour will sweep the city Wednesday night and are expected to disperse the smog.
Smog and air pollution control has become a hot topic at the ongoing annual legislative and political advisory sessions being held in the city.
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