Picture taken on January 14, 2013 shows vehicles running slowly in heavy fog in Hefei, central China's Anhui province.
A factory fire in eastern China raged out of control unnoticed for hours Monday, after local residents were unable to distinguish the smoke from the dense smog that has filled the region.
The official Xinhua news agency says the furniture factory in Zheijiang province burned for nearly three hours before residents noticed the blaze. It took 10 hours to extinguish the flames, which destroyed a large amount of furniture.
Much of China's east coast has experienced its worst air pollution in recent memory over the past several days. In Beijing, a thick blanket of brown smog reduced visibility to just 200 meters, with the tops of many of the city's massive skyscrapers disappearing in the haze.
At its worst, official air quality readings in the capital reached nearly 40 times the World Health Organization's safe limit. Many hospitals were filled with patients complaining of heart or respiratory sicknesses.
The crisis has prompted an unprecedented amount of criticism of the government in China's state-controlled media, many of which published front-page commentaries on the issue. Government officials traditionally have downplayed the severity of the problem.
Facing increasing public outrage, China has taken steps in recent years to become more transparent about air pollution levels. It now publishes hourly updates online for more than 70 cities.
Conditions on Tuesday had improved slightly in the capital, as a cold front moved into the area. But officials warn that heavy smog will persist through Wednesday.
Pollution in China
1/12Women wearing face masks run to cross a street in Beijing, May 6, 2013. The United States Embassy monitor on air quality in China classified the quality of air in Beijing as "hazardous."
2/12A man rows a boat on a river during a hazy morning in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, June 16, 2013.
3/12A man wearing a mask is seen on a street in Beijing, May 2, 2013. Street-level anger over air pollution that blanketed many northern cities this winter spilled over into online appeals for Beijing to clean water supplies.
4/12A statue of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong is seen in front of buildings during a hazy day in Shenyang, Liaoning province, May 7, 2013.
5/12Beijing schools kept children indoors, January 14, 2013, and hospitals saw a spike in respiratory cases following a weekend of excessive pollution in China's smoggy capital.
6/12A teacher leads her students doing body exercises during class break in a classroom on a foggy day in Jinan, Shandong province, January 14, 2013.
7/12Cranes atop a residential building under construction in central Beijing, April 18, 2012.
8/12A protester displays how his rights were violated during an anti-coup demonstration at the Victory Monument, in Bangkok, May 28, 2014.
9/12Haze blankets the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, as seen from inside the Olympic Green area during the Olympics, August 7, 2008.
10/12A coal-burning power station at night in Xiangfan, Hubei province, September 15, 2009.
11/12Paramilitary policemen practice drills inside the Forbidden City amid haze in central Beijing, December 4, 2011.
12/12Buildings in Beijing are pictured on an evening with heavy haze and smog, October 28, 2011.
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