Framework

Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia

Beijing — A tourist wears a mask while looking out at the Forbidden City as pollution covers Beijing in mid-January.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing -, CHINA — Chinese tourists wear face masks as they visit Tiananmen Gate and the portrait of Mao Tse-tung during heavy air pollution in Beijing on January 30.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARK RALSTON / AFP

A couple wearing protective masks poses for a self-portrait amid a thick smoggy haze on Tiananmen Square.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ng Han Guan / Associated Press

A little girl wears a mask with a cartoon theme in Tiananmen Square during severe pollution in Beijing on January 29.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images

Beijing — Chinese paramilitary police officers march during the flag-raising ceremony amid severe pollution at Tiananmen Square on Tuesday in Beijing.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing — Smog is still apparent even at night Wednesday on a busy road in Beijing.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: HOW HWEE YOUNG / EPA

Beijing — A man wears a mask as he rides a bicycle on the streets of Beijing on Tuesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing — A billboard at Beijing's landmark building is seen during severe pollution Wednesday. The fourth round of heavy smog to hit Beijing in one month has sent more people to the hospital with respiratory illnesses and prompted calls for legislation to curb pollution.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing — A panda sculpture is seen during severe pollution on Jan. 23 in Beijing. The air quality in the city hit serious levels again Wednesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing — A man walks on a frozen lake during severe pollution Wednesday. The haze choking many Chinese cities covers a total area of 1.3 million square kilometers, the China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said Tuesday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Feng Li / Getty Images AsiaPac

Beijing — A motorcyclist passes by a power station amid severe pollution Tuesday in Beijing.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images AsiaPac

More galleries on Framework

return to gallery

Face masks popular as Beijing air quality stays at hazardous levels

The story behind the photo: A U.S. Marine salutes the flag in Iraq

As U.S. and allied forces advanced toward Baghdad 10 years ago, a military public affairs sergeant snapped a photograph of a Marine saluting the flag at sunset at a desert...   View Post»

   

Face masks popular as Beijing air quality stays at hazardous levels

Pictures in the News | December 17, 2012

Monday's Pictures in the News begins in Cairo, where Egyptians read notes and messages in Arabic in Tahrir Square. Egypt's political crisis shows no signs of abating as the...   View Post»

   

Roger Federer / Juan Martin Del Potro match

A lens on the Olympics: Shooting the Federer/Del Potro tennis match

Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times Wimbledon: We're deep into the third set and Roger Federer is on the...   View Post»

   

Face masks popular as Beijing air quality stays at hazardous levels

Space shuttle Atlantis

Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Friday morning, shooting straight into a brightening sky on a 12-day mission that marks the end of the nation's  shuttle program. There had...   View Post»

Face masks popular as Beijing air quality stays at hazardous levels

Beijing warned the city’s 20 million people to prepare for at least another day of smog, and officials closed some factories and ordered government cars off the road as pollution remained at hazardous levels.

Visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards in downtown Beijing, and an online merchant reported “overwhelming” interest in face masks yesterday.

A U.S. Embassy pollution monitor showed that air quality reached hazardous levels for the 19th time in 25 days.

Premier Wen Jiabao said China should promote energy-saving measures, reduce emissions and advance ecological progress in light of the pollution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The smog has remained dense after hitting record levels Jan. 12.  Beijing officials have proposed new rules aimed at improving air quality.

“I haven’t seen the smog stay so long like this for years,” a 40-year-old woman who only gave her last name, Zhou, said after buying two air purifiers for more than $2,000 U.S. each in downtown Beijing. “This seems to be the only solution for us. You used to just open the windows to get fresh air at home, but now you can’t do that since it’s even dirtier outside.”

- Bloomberg

1 Comment

  1. January 31, 2013, 7:51 am

    lovely. i adore your pictures and the blog at all which is actually my favourite one i guess. cheers!

    By: baryna

Add a comment or a question.

If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate. Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until they've been approved.

Required

Required, will not be published