A cloud of pollution descended over Beijing at the weekend, shrouding the city and its famous cultural landmarks in a thick haze amid a US warning against physical activity outdoors.
The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center said on its website Sunday that pollution levels in the city’s six core districts was at 225-245.
According to a table carried in the state-run Beijing News daily, such a reading corresponds to Level 5 on the pollution scale. Anything above 300 is Level 6, China’s highest.
Readings posted by the United States embassy, however, were much higher.
In an email message to American citizens Sunday morning, the embassy said that readings on its Air Quality Index (AQI) “have averaged over 300 in the 24-hour period beginning at 8.00pm on October 4, and were over 400 overnight”.
The embassy added that based on recommendations by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), AQI levels surpassing 301 “are considered hazardous” with the EPA recommending that amid such readings “everyone should avoid all physical activities outdoors”.
A photo on the front page of the Beijing News showed the city’s Forbidden City -- once home to China’s emperors and a major tourist site -- enveloped in thick haze on Saturday.