A severe sandstorm that had plagued northwestern China in the past few weeks whipped Beijing on Saturday morning, packing strong winds and tonnes of sand.
The sandstorm, that had traveled hundreds of miles, covered homes, streets, and cars in brown dust and left the sky a murky yellow in the capital city.
The city's weather bureau issued an alarm, warning a sandstorm was "on its way", and advised citizens to stay in homes as the polluted weather was bad for their health.
(此前,)北京市气象局对即将到来的沙尘暴进行了预警,并建议居民们不要外出,以免沙尘天气危及健康。
The air quality was rated a rare level 5, meaning hazardous with pollution reading over 301, the bureau said on its website.
北京气象局在官方网站上称,(北京的)空气质量等级降为罕见的5级,污染水平超过了301。
Beijing has seen rare cold weather this year, with the temperatures remaining below zero at night weeks after spring season officially began.
今年北京的天气异常的冷,正式入春都几周了,晚上的气温依然保持在零下。
While the north is combating cold snaps and sandstorms, a severe drought across a large swathe of southwest China is now affecting more than 50 million people, and forecasters see no signs of the disaster abating in the short term.
Desertification of the country's west and Mongolian steppes has made spring sandstorms worse in recent years, reaching as far away as South Korea and Japan and turning rain and snow yellow.