China plunges into toxic smog again

Residents across huge swathes of northern China battled through choking pollution at extreme levels on Tuesday, as Beijing was plunged into toxic twilight for the fourth time this winter.

Residents across huge swathes of northern China battled through choking pollution at extreme levels on Tuesday, as Beijing was plunged into toxic twilight for the fourth time this winter.

Visibility was reduced to around 200 metres in parts of the capital, where mask-wearing pedestrians groped through a murky haze, despite warnings from authorities to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.

In a Beijing city office visited by AFP, up to 20 workers worried that the pollutants could penetrate indoors took extra precautions, wearing gas-mask style protective headgear at their desks.

State broadcaster China Central Television gave the smog's second day huge airplay, showing vehicles using full headlights in mid-morning to light their way through the noxious cloud.

People walk on a smog-covered road in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, as air quality levels rose above index limits in Beijing. AFP