Beijing reunited with 'long-lost' blue skies as cold spell clears haze

Beijing residents saw a return of "long-lost" blue skies yesterday, with air quality improving to levels labelled "good" by the US embassy after hitting hazardous levels on 20 days last month.

Still, concerns over the smog that had blanketed the capital, as well as nearby northern and eastern provinces, have prompted the Beijing authorities to ask residents to set off fewer fireworks during the Lunar New Year.

The concentration of PM2.5, fine air particles that pose the greatest health risk, was 14 micrograms per cubic metre at 9am, according to the embassy. The level near Tiananmen Square fell to four from an average of 100, Beijing's environmental monitoring centre said yesterday.

Every day in January, Peak readings from the US embassy exceeded the World Health Organisation's recommendation for daily exposure of no higher than 25. The daily average last month was 196 micrograms per cubic metre, with an intraday high of 886 on January 12.

The China Meteorological Administration said a cold spell bringing precipitation dissipated fog and haze on the mainland. "Beijing welcomed long-lost blue skies this morning," it said.

"The fog and haze that has persisted for days will end its domination of the central and eastern regions", which would see snow and rain over the weekend, it said.