Shrouded in thick smog, China’s capital Beijing looks like a scene from an apocalyptic film.
The city’s air pollution emergency response office issued the first yellow alert for this winter on Nov. 13.
In the newly updated three-tier warning system, a yellow alert is the least severe level. As of 12 p.m., the city’s average air quality index (AQI ) had reached 311, a level deemed “hazardous” on most scales.
Residents in Beijing are worried about the smog.
“I feel pretty worried. First of all, it affects my health. To be honest, the weather now in Beijing is not good for respiratory tract and lungs. I’d rather stay at home in such weather as I have an air purifier at home,” said Ding Wanyun, a resident in Beijing.
“Every year when such weather arrives, I will escape to Melbourne and stay with my son and daughter-in-law. When spring comes, I will come back,” said Yu Fang, another resident of the city.
Pollution alerts are common in northern China, especially during winter when energy demand soars. China said last month it will continue to switch residential households to natural gas heating this winter as part of the country’s anti-air pollution campaign.
