Beijing has been soaked in dense fog since Tuesday afternoon and a greater part of China was shrouded in mist yesterday.

　　The visibility in the city was less than 1 kilometer yesterday morning, and five of the eight expressways were closed temporarily due to the heaviest fog this winter.

　　The heavy fog is looming over most of northern China, the southwestern region, the northeastern province of Liaoning and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to the Central Meteorological Station.

　　In some areas of north, central and east China, the visibility is only 100 to 200 meters with the air quality rapidly deteriorating, said Yang Keming, senior engineer at the CMS.

　　A mass of fog with an area of about 217,000 square kilometers covered up Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, parts of east China's Shandong Province and north China's Hebei Province on Tuesday evening, said Yang.

　　He said the unusual heavy fog resulted from humid and warm air currents from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau over the past few days.

　　The foggy weather will continue until tomorrow when a cold front is expected to arrive, bringing snow, rain and strong winds, Yang added.

　　The possible four days of misty weather has made it even harder for the capital city to realize its goal of having 18 days of clear blue sky with good air quality this month.

　　(Xinhua)