1.Thousands of Beijing residents have been sharing photos of blue skies on China's popular Weibo and WeChat social media sites for the last few months.
2.The pictures being uploaded on Thursday showed one of the clearest skies in recent memory: crystal clear and looking distinctly unlike one of the world's most polluted cities.
3.The city's air pollution level has reportedly dropped 19% in the last year, after the government began to shut down coal-fired power plants city-wide and try to reduce vehicle exhaust by giving out limited new license plates.
4.The results are pretty stunning.
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8.Though environment experts warn that the war against air pollution still has a long way to go, a decade ago this kind of photo would have been impossible in Beijing.
9.Bonus: As Beijing's skies clear, it's becoming easier to see things like this breathtaking double rainbow, which appeared in the city's metropolitan area on June 6.
10.A blue sky plus a rainbow? For Beijingers, that's CNN-style breaking news.
11.Drivers stopped their cars on a highway to take photos of it.
12.Here's where things get really weird: Double rainbows have a habit of showing up in the beginning of June. They have been a guarantee for the past three years, appearing on June 9, 2013...
13.June 6, 2014...
14.And June 6 again this year. (Six is a lucky number in China, and two sixes mean double the luck. So in China, June 6 is simply a very good day, and there are the rainbows to prove it.)
15.Here's hoping that this trend continues, because this is simply beautiful.