Beijing 'Like Mars' as Sandstorm Chokes City

Storyful
2

An eighth sandstorm of the year brought low visibility and poor air quality to Beijing from Monday, April 10, into Tuesday, local media reported, with more forecast for later in the week.

Video by Roger Vicente shows hazy conditions in Beijing on Monday. He wrote in the caption of the footage, “I went out with a small electric bike and the wind almost [made] me fall.”

He posted a second clip the following day, with the caption, “Beijing dawns as if it were Mars.”

Citing the China Meteorological Administration, local media reported sandstorms had affected 18 provincial-level regions at the start of the week.

The Beijing Ecological Environment Monitoring Center said on Wednesday that the air quality in the city was “severely polluted,” according to a machine translation.

The China Meteorological Administration said sand and dust could affect Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and other locations from Thursday to Sunday. Credit: Roger Vicente via Storyful

Video Transcript

[NO SPEECH]