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Sidney Leng

Much of northern China has been blanketed in thick smog after Beijing issued its highest air pollution alert of the winter in the capital on Sunday.
Readings of PM2.5, the small particles in the air deemed most harmful to health, reached over 500 in Beijing on Tuesday. The World Health Organisation says readings of 25 over a 24-hour period are considered safe.
READ MORE: Smog soars to hazardous levels in Beijing
China’s government says it is “waging war” on pollution, but the familiar return of smog-shrouded skies has created some dark humour among internet users on the mainland.
Here are some examples of pollution-related gags doing the rounds:

You might think this is a scene from a horror film, but not so according to one internet user.
It’s Chinese women dancing in a public square in the smog on Sunday, one person joked.
“I was about to take a walk in the park, but this scene stopped me. If there was no music in the background, I would have thought this was a scene from Resident Evil, they wrote.
The air pollution in Beijing is so thick one internet user thought people might need reminding of what the capital’s landmarks look like.
They posted a helpful drawing of the state television headquarters building, nicknamed by Beijingers the “Big Trousers”.
Here’s what the CCTV building really looks like, in case you really had forgotten.
One internet user posted a photograph of himself vacuuming the polluted streets of Beijing. 
It wasn’t actually a joke. After 100 days of hoovering up soot and dust he made a solid brick “made of smog”.
A pop song Beijing, Beijing, which was given a new twist by a few Internet users two years ago, starts circulating online again. The usual more cheerful lyrics about the capital have been replaced with a rather darker take as smog continues to envelop the capital.
WATCH: Musical satire on Beijing’s chronic air pollution
“Who is searching in the smog? Who is breathing in the smog? Who is living in the smog? Who is dying in the smog?” the downbeat new interpretation of the ditty said.


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China pollution

Beijing air pollution: black humour and satire as capital is shrouded yet again in thick smog

Beijing air pollution: black humour and satire as capital is shrouded yet again in thick smog

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.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}READ MORE: Smog soars to hazardous levels in Beijing

READ MORE: Smog soars to hazardous levels in Beijing