With a drop in temperatures affecting North and Central China, these areas have seen heavy smog for two days running now.
Visibility has been low since Monday morning not only in the capital Beijing, but also in the provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Henan. Traffic in a number of urban areas has been affected with visibility dropping to no more than 200 meters. The Hebei provincial Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert, and reports say 10 highways are closed. But this comes at the worst possible time, with China’s spring festival travel rush just beginning.
Long-distance coaches are blocked on many highways and traffic police have been deployed to help ease the situation. At one point earlier Tuesday, an air pollution monitoring station set up by the US Embassy in Beijing reported the capital’s air pollution as "beyond index."
温度下降影响着我国的中部和北部,这些地区两天内呈现大雾天气。
能见度在周一早晨以来非常低,不仅在我国的首都北京,而且在河北省、山东省及河南省也是这种情况。在许多城市交通受到影响,能见度降至不超过200米。河北省级气象中心发布橙色警报,报道称十条高速公路都被关闭。但这恰巧在最不应该来的时候来临,春运高峰刚刚开始。