The Fog

Tomorrow we are gonna have fog. That's what my driver said, in his own way... "Tomorrow wù" and then a big gesture with his arm indicating everything around. He use to listen the news on the radio and some times he try to explain me that we must change our route because of a car accident or the weather forecast.

Last week during the Spring Festival we had the most heavy fog that I've never seen before. There was a lot of multiple car accidents in the highway, I don't know how we survived, in some sections the visibility wasn't greater to 30 meters. Somebody told me that all the flights after 6 pm were cancelled.

Fog Blankets Beijing, Tianjin

Heavy fog covers Beijing on Sunday, February 25, 2007, the first official day of work after the week-long Chinese New Year holiday. Several highways linking the Chinese capital with nearby cities closed due to safety concerns, delaying many holidaymakers' return home. [Photo: news.cn]

Heavy fog blanketed Beijing and Tianjin Sunday, the first workday after the week-long Spring Festival holiday, forcing the closure of the expressway linking the two major municipalities in north China.

According to the local meteorological station, the fog first appeared at 6:00 AM in the southern part of Beijing and spread to Tianjin and some regions in Hebei Province, also in north China.

The traffic control department closed the Jingjintang Expressway linking Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, Jinhu Expressway linking Tianjin and Shanghai, Jingshen Expressway linking Beijing and Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province in northwest China, for safety reasons.

Some highways in outskirt area of the two cities were also closed, affecting intercity passenger bus operations as large numbers of holidaymakers returned to their homes or workplaces.

The civil aviation service at local airports were not affected by the fog and all flights at Beijing's Capital International Airport and Tianjin's Binhai International Airport are operated as scheduled.

A wind front from the north will move in later Sunday and dissipate the fog on Monday, bringing temperatures up to 13 degrees centigrade, according to the Beijing Meteorological Station.

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http://english.cri.cn/3100/2007/02/25/1261@199347.htm