Young Beijing residents have reacted quickly to the smoggy weather, pushing up sales of protective masks and air purifiers on China's major B2C online portals. On Beijing's streets, most people in protective masks appear to be in their 20s and 30s.

Guokr, a website committed to popularizing science, on Sunday posted a guide on how to select pollutant-proof masks and wear them correctly. It was forwarded over 1,100 times on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site, on Monday.

"Everyone, wear a mask when going out, unless you wish to be a walking vacuum cleaner," commented one blogger.

The amount of attention given to the pollution online points to the younger generation's growing awareness of health and environmental issues. Detailed hourly updates of air quality monitoring data, which began in Beijing early last year, have also helped spread the information among netizens.

Young people new to Beijing are among those feeling particularly distressed, as they find it difficult to live with the city's air pollution.

"Last night, I received a call from my mom, who asked me to seriously consider leaving Beijing and finding a job back home. Apparently, the news freaked her out," said Yang Weiran, who left her home in Zhejiang Province to work as an accountant in Beijing in 2010.

Yang said she also panicked. She stayed inside her apartment over the weekend with the windows closed, eating take-out and snacks purchased online.

"These days are hard times for us 'north drifters,' who had hoped to pursue our dreams in Beijing but found the new life here difficult due to surging housing prices, high living costs and severe pollution," Yang said.

Air pollution has been a prolonged headache for Beijing, as experts said the metropolis' explosive car ownership rates, massive winter heating demands and terrain factors have made it difficult to achieve satisfying results in efforts to purify the air.

The current smog shrouding Beijing started Friday, with PM2.5 readings surpassing 700 over the weekend. Cities in other northern Chinese provinces, including Hebei, Henan and Shandong, also reported dangerously high PM2.5 readings on Monday.

Zhang Dawei, director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center of the city's Environmental Protection Bureau, said the smog would continue into Tuesday before it would likely be dispersed by an approaching cold front.