In the Pudong Lujiazui financial area in Shanghai, the whole city and most of the industrial parts of the country are suffering under a permanent haze.
Wearing a face mask outdoors is a necessity for those living in industrial areas. Sales of face masks in China are eight times higher than they were last year.
Beijing Schools are keeping children indoors and the Beijing Shijitan Hospital is reporting a 20% increase in patients arriving with respiratory health issues.
The pollution levels are at record highs. The haze has become so bad that on Monday a factory fire in Eastern China raged for three hours before someone noticed the smoke.
A study released by Greenpeace and Peking University’s School of Public Health found that pollution led to 8,572 early deaths in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xian in 2012.
(Sources: The Telegraph, Voice Of America, Care2, Businessweek)