China’s environment ministry says Beijing’s red-alert smog measures cut

An air-quality index posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing read 351 on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., meaning PM2.5 levels were still at hazardous levels.

There were far fewer pedestrians, and most donned white masks to filter the air. The decision to use the red alert system now comes after the Chinese government faced criticism for not having activated it on prior bad days. Most of the smog is blamed on coal-fired power plants, along with vehicle emissions, construction and factory work.

Beijing and much of the country has has been blighted by chronic air pollution for years, and the capital’s red alert coincided with global climate change talks in Paris, where China is in the spotlight as the world’s biggest polluter.

The public consumption of healthcare products has also been affected by the heavy smog in northern China-an indicator of anxiety consumption, according to the Taobao report. Others with a darker view said the emergency measures were simply proof of how grim the situation had become, and questioned whether they would have any significant impact on air quality.

“The city is blanketed in a thick, choking smog that has covered an area of North China the size of Spain and Beijing’s most famous landmarks have been completely obscured by the yellow haze”, Zhang Kai wrote according to a report by Independent.

The government put the red alert in place on Tuesday, following the emergence of heavy smog in the city of roughly 21.5 million people.

The rising levels of pollution have sparked off debate among experts about the reasons for the deteriorating air. That has reduced traffic volume by half since Tuesday.

Beijing’s vehicle restrictions? of odd and even number plates will last until noon tomorrow. “We cannot leave the house, we cannot do anything, we can only stay at home, study at home, do everything at home”, said Zhao, whose mother, an architect, has been working from the family’s apartment in an affluent neighborhood in central Beijing.

“I’ve already sold seven machines worth 30,000 renminbi”, or about $4,700, said shopkeeper Yuan Yuxia as she tried to keep up with the steady stream of customers pushing through the door just 90 minutes after the shop opened.