Heavy fog blanketed Beijing and Tianjin Sunday, the first workday after the weeklong 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 holiday makers 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.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2007)