Dust and sand have swept Beijing and a large swathe of the country. This came two days after the first severe sandstorm this spring hit the capital Saturday.

The Beijing environmental monitoring center ranked Monday's air quality as "level four," meaning hazardous with moderate pollution. On Saturday, it was level five, the worst. The center advised people to keep doors and windows closed, and cover their faces. The Central Meteorological Station said the impact of the successive sandstorms had stretched to eastern and southern regions, such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. In Taiwan, sand covered cars in just ten minutes, and some flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.

He Lif, forecaster of Central Meteorological Station,said, "Every March to May in China is the time subject to dust and sand storms. It's borne by strong winds had swept over the Gobi Desert from Mongolia and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.