Sandstorm from foreign nation sweeps Beijing

BREAKING EARTH NEWS: CHINA
In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, skyscrapers are blurred in sand storm in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin province, on Friday March 10, 2006. A sand storm, the first this year, hit most parts of north China from March 9, Xinhua said. (AP Photo/Xinhua)



BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Strong winds carrying dust from Mongolia swept into Beijing early Saturday morning, worsening the city's air quality.
The dust storm passed by Saturday afternoon, and local meteorologists say the city's air quality will improve on Sunday.
According to the Beijing Environment Monitoring Center, on Friday afternoon a sandstorm swept across a large part of Mongolia and then joined with heavy winds from northern China. The winds brought the dust to Beijing at around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday when the city recorded dust density of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meterper hour, the center said.
It is the third time Beijing has experienced weather caused by a sandstorm from a foreign nation this year, a meteorologist said.
Reports show that as of Saturday, Beijing had 16 days of clear skies in March, slightly fewer than normal

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