Dense fog hits E,C China, causing serious air pollution

（Xinhua） 08:07, January 14, 2013

Citizens walk on a bridge in the fog in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 13, 2013. Dense fog on Sunday hit China's east and central regions from the northeast to the south. (Xinhua/Yang Xiaoyuan)

BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological authority issued a yellow alert for fog that continued to shroud the country's central and eastern regions on Sunday.

The heavy fog has affected flights at airports in Beijing, Hebei, Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Sichuan, with visibility reduced to around 100 meters at some airports.

Ten flights had been canceled and five flights delayed by more than an hour at the Beijing Capital International Airport as of 11 a.m. Sunday, the airport said.

The fog has also disrupted traffic on some highways in Hebei, Sichuan, Hunan, Shandong and Liaoning provinces, according to the road network center under the Ministry of Transport.

The center said traffic will be resumed later in the day.

The Central Meteorological Center forecast that the north China plains, middle and western regions along the Yellow and Huai rivers, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and south China will see fog on Sunday.

On Monday, light and moderate snow will fall in the northern part of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with some areas expecting heavy snow, the center said.

Meanwhile, a cold front will lower temperatures by 4 to 8 degrees Celsius in China's northern and eastern regions from Sunday to Wednesday, according to the center.