Mask a requisite for Beijing residents
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E-mail Xinhua, March 12, 2013
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A resident wearing a mask takes a walk around the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. [File photo/Xinhua] |
Dust, smog and heavy wind made Li Yuan's weekend trip to Beijing's southern suburb in search of an affordable apartment a nasty experience.
Sandstorms from the north have swept across Beijing recently. Even wearing a mask, Li's nose was filled with dust and black gunk after a day's trekking around new-build housing blocks in Daxing District.
A native of southeast China's Fujian Province, he seldom uses masks except when he has caught a cold. Fujian boasts the country's highest forest coverage rate of 63 percent.
He came to Beijing in 2006 to attend college. But it was only in late January that he decided to buy a mask online after the lingering smog above the capital meant he could not stop coughing.
Li Yuan is just one of the thousands of mask users here.
Policemen in Beijing have worn masks when working outside since March 9 in response to a Public Security Ministry document issued on Jan. 30 calling for better care for police personnel faced with polluted environments.
Beijing has witnessed persistent smog since early January. Air quality indices were off the charts for seven days, exceeding the "maximum" level of 500, making this the worst period since the government began being more open about air-quality data.
China introduced measures of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter, last year in its monitoring of air quality. For years, China's environmental authorities have monitored only PM10, which gauges particulate matter under 10 micrometers.
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