Firecrackers Not the Cause of Beijing Fog – Xinhua

Beijing local official broke silence and made statement that the Spring Festival firecrackers did not cause the thick fog in Beijing these days. However, over 16,000 road cleaners took away 900 tons Spring Festival firecracker wastes this year, from Xinhua, via China Daily:

Firecrackers during the Chinese New Year may have affected the weather but were not the cause of Wednesday’s thick fog in Beijing, said Director of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory Guo Hu on Thursday…

The Capital International Airport was forced to cancel 190 flights, while sections of seven Beijing and 10 Tianjin highways were also forced to close temporarily…

Fireworks are part of traditional celebrations marking Spring Festival, the most important holiday for Chinese, which fell on Feb. 18 this year.
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