A strong sandstorm blankets Aral City, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, May 18, 2016. Visibility was reduced to about 20 meters and residents rushed to escape choking sand and dust that was suspended in the air when the sandstorm hit the city at around 6pm, the fifth such storm of its kind this year. (Photo: China News Service/Zong Tiemei)
