Golden Week revelers face third-highest smog alert

On Sunday morning, Beijing issued a yellow alert, its third-highest, for the first time in the latter part of the year. The alert was in response to lingering smog covering the vast northern region during the holiday. The heavy smog is forecast to last until Tuesday.

The spell may herald the start of the coming smog season. Experts say the strong El Nino phenomenon may bring weather less likely to disperse air pollution in autumn and winter.

As of 2 pm, Beijing had seen tiny PM2.5 particles reach as high as 187 micrograms per cubic meter in southeastern districts like Tongzhou. That indicates air pollution fell into the second-highest level on the six-tier air quality index, the municipal environmental monitoring center said.