Beijingers make fashion statements with masks in the smog

Half of Beijing’s private cars were ordered off the streets yesterday and many construction sites and schools closed after authorities in the smog-shrouded capital responded to scathing public criticism with their first red alert for pollution.

“I feel like I’m engaged in chemical warfare”, a commuter wrote on Weibo.

There previously have been stretches of severe smog in Beijing that lasted more than three days. The 24-hour average of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 197 and 330 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.

Auto use is being cut in half by having only odd- or even-numbered license plates on the road at any one time.

Gina McCarthy, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator, has been talking to Chinese officials at the global climate negotiations in Paris this week, describing how the Clean Power Plan introduced in August would improve air quality by cutting carbon emissions from power plants. Over the weekend, the city was only on orange alert, which recommends stopping outdoor construction and work that produces heavy pollution. As China’s capital woke up to its first-ever “red alert” for smog, the skies outside were a noxious gray, but the air inside the small storefront was crisp and clean, alive with the mechanical whirring of several air purifier machines.

Under the current red alert, schools were advised to voluntarily close unless they had good air filtration systems.

China’s central government has been criticized for laying out contradicting accounts about what has caused the acute air pollution that has smothered northern China on Monday and triggered a red-alert in Beijing on Tuesday.

“A cold front moving through the area on Thursday will bring a breeze that will help to usher in a fresh air mass from the north and clear smog out of the city”, Zartman said.

“People everywhere are looking forward to China’s continuous progress on the road to green development, acting as a model for the world to tackle the challenge of climate change”, the newspaper said. “The public have no way to express their anger, so all we get is the unified message from the [state-run] media”.

“Some people think this is ridiculous to vacuum dust in the air”, says Brother Nut, “Air pollution is a problem for everyone”.

“Awareness is getting stronger and stronger”, he said. But now as the poisonous smog continues to revolve around Beijing, strict precautionary measures are necessary to be taken.

“Our transportation system can’t cope under the pressure of all these motor vehicles, so we need some long-term measures, although… these are basically not going to happen”, Mei said. “We figured we could take a bit of a loss for the sake of people drinking more”.

“Reported by Qiao Long for RFA’s Mandarin Service, and by Ho Si-yuen for the Cantonese Service”.