Beijing air pollution high

    Four days after the massive fireworks displays that marked Lunar New Year’s Eve, Beijing’s municipal weather bureau has maintained a warning against exercising outdoors due to the city’s air pollution.

    Readings for PM2.5 hovered between 200 and 250 micrograms per cubic meter on the morning of January 13, the Beijing Environmental Protection Monitoring Center reported.

    The municipal observatory said a lack of wind has allowed the smog to linger, as well as reiterated* its call to lessen the use of fireworks.

    Tourists saved from storm

    A total of 168 tourists were rescued early on Thursday after being stranded* by high winds for 12 hours in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, rescuers said.

    The tourists were traveling by car and bus on a provincial highway in Emin County of Tacheng Prefecture* when they were stranded on Wednesday afternoon in Maytas, a high-wind zone, by strong gales* sweeping at 70 km per hour.

    Evacuation after reservoir collapse

    Residents near a reservoir* in North China’s Shanxi Province have been evacuated after part of its dam collapsed, causing flooding, said a local official on Saturday.

    The top of an irrigation water duct of Quting Reservoir in Hongtong County caved in* around 7 a.m. on Friday, leading to the partial collapse of its dam walls, said the official.

    No casualties have been reported as residents downstream were evacuated.

    Visitors bring ¥6.1b to SZ

    Shenzhen’s tourism revenue* topped 6.1 billion yuan (US$979 million) during the Spring Festival holiday, thanks to over 5.16 million visitors.

    The revenue represents a 20.3-percent increase from last year’s Spring Festival. Domestic tourists contributed to more than 78 percent of the city’s tourism revenue during the holiday.

    About 1.32 million tourists came from overseas, bringing US$220 million, according to the bureau.(SD-Agencies)