Heavy fog shrouds Beijing and neighboring regions

Major highways to Beijing have been closed as the capital and neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality were shrouded in dense fog on Saturday.

The average visibility in Beijing was less than 500 meters on Saturday morning. The city's meteorological station said the fog would continue on Sunday, and would be dispersed by a cold air on Sunday evening.

The city's environmental protection bureau said that the fog, which has dominated Beijing since Friday, deteriorated the city's air quality.

Beijing recorded "serious pollution" Saturday, which was rare during this year, according to a bulletin issued by the China Environmental Monitoring Center.

According to the China's Central Meteorological Station, ten provinces and municipalities in north, central and east China were affected by the fog.

In Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, more than 10,000 passengers were stranded at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on Saturday morning, as air traffic was disrupted by the dense fog.

Visibility at the airport was less than 20 meters. The airport said that 96 flights, all on domestic routes, have been postponed. The flight schedule was recovering in the afternoon as the fog diluted.

Dense fog will continue to affect the city on Sunday, according to the local weather forecast.

Source:Xinhua