After days of hazardous smog that kept people indoors in China's capital, Beijing can take a breath again.
On Tuesday night, strong winds blew out the smog that covered the city, where levels of PM 2.5 -- particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that are considered harmful -- had been off the charts in the past few days. The latest period of pollution, which started last Friday and worsened over the weekend, put the city at an orange level alert, the second-highest level warning for air pollution.
By Wednesday morning, though, the smog had been blown away. The U.S. Embassy's air quality index, which has historically diverged from the Chinese government's measurements, showed that the air quality index in Beijing on Wednesday to be 21, which is considered to be safe. On Monday and Tuesday, the U.S. embassy's measurements were higher than 500, which is beyond the measure of its air quality index.
A timelapse video from Fazhi Evening News shows the haze literally being blown out of the city on Tuesday night:
Chinese residents are grateful for the winds, sharing their own photos of the blue skies on Weibo.
"Just a gust of wind," wrote Weibo user woyuwoyu, referring to what it took to remove the five days worth of haze as he shared a photo gallery that showed the city's skies. He also shared his own photo of the city:
However, while the haze is gone, its effects still linger.
"I went to Beijing on the night of Nov. 29 and left on Dec. 1. I shared Beijing's residents pain on the two most heavily-polluted days. The result is that my chest feels tight and I am still coughing," another user wrote.
Over the past several days, some residents have used black humor to respond to the pollution. Some drew outlines of iconic buildings on photos that were consumed by grey fog. One artist created a brick from the dust he vacuumed up from the city's air.
China's leaders are currently in Paris for the U.N. Climate Summit to discuss how they can contribute to the fight against climate change.