In the early months of 2021, China had been hit by the strongest sandstorm in the past 10 years.
There was a strong cyclone blowing across from Inner Mongolia and towards north-western China, from northern Xinjiang to central and western Gansu. Strong winds were blowing at between 8 to 10 times stronger than is normal at this time of year.
Beijing Meteorological Observatory issued a blue gale warning and a blue sand and dust warning to remind citizens to protect themselves against sand and dust.
According to data released, the highest PM10 concentration was 6496 µg/m³ in the Beijing suburbs and several other readings were reportedly off the scale. On the AQI website the US AQI number was reported as being 1960 which puts it firmly in the "Hazardous" category.
Many local people put pictures on the social media site “WeChat” which almost turned the situation into a scene from a sci-fi movie with yellow and orange filters which gave their pictures an eerie retro look.
Fortunately, after the peak during mid-morning, the level of sand and dust in Beijing had abated, and the visibility had improved significantly since then.