Heavy smog seriously disrupts traffic in China

As the country sets to round off the month, a dense haze of smog has engulfed vast swathes of the north.

The hazardous airborne pollutants have enveloped Beijing, Tianjin and neighboring Hebei province. Weather officials have issued alerts, warning that traffic has been seriously disrupted in many places. Most expressways in Hebei have been shutdown. And airports in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang and Tianjin, have seen massive delays.

A marathon that just kicked off in Tianjin, has been made all the more long and grueling as the latest round of smog engulfs the port city. And there seems to be no end in sight.

This is the third extreme round of smog to hit the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent months. In China's north, smog seems to linger on every time the wind stops blowing. And in the country's southwest in Chongqing municipality, hazy days have shut down traffic.

"We have been waiting here since before dawn."

To get a better understanding of what's actually in the air, scientists at Xi'an Jiaotong University have shed some new light on the pollutants.

These are the particles in the air seen under a microscope, zoomed in over hundreds of thousands of times.

"It's a bit surprising to find particles containing Titanium. This is like a transparent shell containing pomegranate seeds. And we are surprised to have collected particles that contain lead and chromium. We know lead is greatly harmful to human beings." said Rpof. Shan Zhiwei, Xi'An Jiaotong University.

And now, to prepare for the upcoming APEC meeting in Beijing which will take place between November 7th and 11th, tough measures are coming into force.

Measures include a temporary shutdown of factories, and an odd-and-even license plate rule, which means half of Beijing's cars will not be on the roads. All public institutes have also been given a six day holiday.

These are the strictest measures put in place since the 2008 Olympic Games.

"These measures will do great to ensure air quality. According to experts' estimates, total emissions will be cut by 40 percent." said Zhang Dawei, Director, Weather Inspection Center.

Zhang said ensuring air quality during the APEC meetings is the "priority of priorities", although the task will be a "tremendous challenge".