Briefly

BEIJING

Capital set air quality record last month

October's monthly reading for PM2.5 fell to an average of 25 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing, the lowest level in autumn and winter since data was first collected in the capital, authorities said on Monday. The average concentration of PM2.5 in the city in the first 10 months of the year was 32 micrograms per cubic meter, the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau said. Autumn and winter are periods with large pollutant emissions and unfavorable meteorological conditions. Beijing implemented a range of measures last month to tackle air pollution, including the special treatment of volatile organic compounds and the introduction of new standards and policies for dealing with mobile sources of pollution, the bureau said.

QINGHAI

Collection on King Gesar epic published

A collection of books on the Tibetan Epic of King Gesar has been published, a Qinghai provincial center for the protection and research of the epic said on Tuesday. The five-volume collection, totaling 1.14 million words, was compiled based on existing versions and new discoveries from folk tales, songs and written materials about King Gesar, said Changchub Tsering, an associate researcher at the center. The Epic of King Gesar is generally considered the world's longest folk epic, telling the story of how an 11th century Tibetan demigod king conquered his enemies and helped ordinary people. It was listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.

Xinhua