Updated, 8:22 a.m. | School was canceled, traffic was nearly paralyzed and the airport was shut down in the northeast Chinese city of Harbin on Monday as off-the-charts pollution dropped visibility to less than 10 meters in parts of the provincial capital.
A dark, gray cloud that the local weather bureau described as “heavy fog” has shrouded the city of 10 million since Thursday, but the smoke thickened significantly on Sunday, soon after the government turned on the coal-powered municipal heating system for the winter.
“You can’t see your own fingers in front of you,” the city’s official news siteexplained helpfully. In the same vein, a resident of Harbin commented on Sina Weibo, the popular microblog platform, “You can hear the person you are talking to, but not see him.” Another resident added that he couldn’t see the person he was holding hands with.
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