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Zhuang Pinghui

Persistent heavy smog on Tuesday caused massive flight delays in and around Beijing, snarling traffic and even pushing up vegetable prices in the capital.
By 6pm, 359 flights at Beijing Capital International Airport had been cancelled, according to an airport statement.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority said 16 flights to Beijing were delayed, while one Beijing-Hong Kong flight was cancelled and 12 others delayed. Flights to Tianjin were also affected. Three departing and three arriving flights were cancelled.
Beijing’s ‘smog refugees’ flee the capital for cleaner air down south
At least 23 cities in the north had issued red alerts for air pollution, and smog covered a seventh of the country, China News ­Service reported.
In smog-bound Tianjin, 243 flights were cancelled and 63 delayed by 5pm. Massive delays were also reported in Jinan and Qingdao in Shandong province.
Of the 60 flights supposed to have landed in Beijing between midnight and 3am on Tuesday, only two – one from Japan and the other from Russia – had been able to land.
Among those unable to land was a plane carrying the chief executive of the world’s biggest oil exporter.
Amin Nasser, CEO of the Saudi Arabian oil producer Aramco, was due to attend an event on Saudi culture at Beijing’s National Museum. But company officials said his plane was diverted.
Many travellers were also left stranded at other airports.
In Beijing, visibility fell to below 200 metres and some highways on the sixth ring road and main roads connecting the capital to neighbouring cities in Hebei and Tianjin were closed.




Beijing commuter Hu Shi­qiang said she felt she was living in a wartime film. “The dirty air and repeated news about the red alert all feel so surreal,” she said.“[If I didn’t have a meeting] I would stay indoors.”
Dongcheng district grocer Dong Qiang said food prices were bound to rise.
“If you think 5 yuan for 500 grams of tomatoes is expensive then just come back tomorrow,” Dong said. Five yuan is equal to 72 US cents or HK$5.50.
“The price will surely go up. I went to buy vegetables at night and the seller told me it took him eight hours for a trip that normally took him only two hours because of the thick smog.”
Dong said he was now selling his old stock because fresh supplies from Shandong province had failed to arrive due to the highway closures.
Liu Jiaqi, an engineer at a state-owned design institute, said she had to take her daughter with her to work because the child’s school was shut and there was nobody to look after her at home.
“The authorities mean well by suspending school but it also brings problems for people like me who don’t have other people to look after their children,” Liu said.
Severe smog in north China grounds flights, closes highways and suspends production
On Monday, three days after the red alert – the highest warning level in the four-tier system – came into force in Beijing, air quality plummeted. Several of the capital’s air quality monitoring sites reported levels of 2.5PM – particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can cause the greatest harm to public health – hit 500 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday night. The World Health Organisation recommends an annual average exposure of 10.

Beijing issues 2016’s first red alert for air pollution after forecasting six days of ‘severe smog’
Elsewhere in the capital, elderly men continued with their morning walks – despite the smog – with some wearing masks. “This is my daily exercise routine walking for an hour around the block,” said 75-year-old Xiao Qing, who was not wearing a mask. “I can’t breathe wearing a mask. I will go home and keep the windows shut when I am finished.”
According to forecasts, the pollution will gradually abate with the expected arrival of northerly winds on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Mimi Lau and Reuters


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Hundreds of flights cancelled in Beijing as thick smog lays siege to capital

Travel between the capital and Hong Kong disrupted as air pollution cuts visibility to less than 200 metres

Passengers wait as Beijing Capital International Airport suffers a large-scale flight delays during a polluted day in Beijing, China, December 20, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

An information board in Terminal 3 shows flights delayed and cancelled at Beijing Capital International Airport amidst heavy smog. Photo: Xinhua

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In less than a decade, air pollution has become a central feature of urban life and a flashpoint of public discontent. Here are some of the ways the government has reacted to the appalling conditions

A cyclist from the U.S. team arrives wearing a mask at Beijing airport to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, August 5, 2008. REUTERS/Issei Kato (CHINA)

(141104) -- BEIJING, Nov. 4, 2014 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Nov. 3, 2014 shows the Sunrise East Kempinski Hotel at the Yanqi Lake, one of the venues for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing, China. The 2014 APEC Economic Leaders' Week will be held in Beijing from Nov. 5 to 11. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang) (zkr)

(130102) -- BEIJING, Jan. 2, 2013 (Xinhua) -- A map showing PM2.5 intensity in China's 74 major cities is displayed at the website of China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CNEMC), Jan. 2, 2013. Starting from Tuesday, real-time air quality monitoring data on PM2.5 intensity and other air quality information in China's 74 major cities can be available at the website. (Xinhua/Gong Lei) (zz)

Face masks on monkey statues at Beijing Zoo in protest against heavy air pollution in the capital. Heavy smog suffocated northeast China again on Tuesday, with hundreds of flights cancelled. Photo: AFP

Beijing’s ‘smog refugees’ flee the capital for cleaner air down south

A man walks in the smog as the sun rises over Beijing on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Pigeons fly in heavy smog during a polluted day in Beijing, China, December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

新华社照片，北京，2016年12月19日
    直击空气重污染红色预警下北京首个早高峰
    12月19日早晨8点25分左右，北京东三环双向车道行驶畅通。
    当日，北京迎来自12月16日20时启动空气重污染红色预警后的首个工作日交通早高峰。由于实行机动车单双号限行措施，北京地面车辆行驶相对畅通，而地铁等公共交通工具则出现大客流量。
    新华社记者 罗晓光 摄

Parents with their children wait at a holding room of a children hospital in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. A smog-shrouded Chinese city canceled airline flights Sunday due to poor visibility and many parents took children to hospitals on the second day of a pollution alert across the country's north. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

People sit on a bench at a park in heavy smog during a polluted day in Beijing, China, December 18, 2016. Picture taken December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. REUTERS/Stringer CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

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Travel between the capital and Hong Kong disrupted as air pollution cuts visibility to less than 200 metres


Hundreds of flights cancelled in Beijing as thick smog lays siege to capital

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Travel between the capital and Hong Kong disrupted as air pollution cuts visibility to less than 200 metres

Travel between the capital and Hong Kong disrupted as air pollution cuts visibility to less than 200 metres