High winds and the specter of sandstorms Saturday (April 12, 2025) prompted Beijing to cancel a whole lot of flights and shut public parks, as huge gales felled a whole lot of bushes, crushing automobiles and damaging older properties throughout China’s capital.
Beijing’s two huge worldwide airports, Beijing Capital and Daxing, canceled 693 flights by 2:00 p.m. with warnings of extra violent climate on its manner, particularly within the nation’s north and alongside coastal areas.
More flights and trains had been canceled in different elements of China. Some elements of the nation recorded their strongest winds in additional than 75 years, registering at up to 148 kph (92 mph).
In Beijing, the Universal Studios theme park was closed at the very least by way of Sunday (April 13, 2025) and historic websites equivalent to Beijing’s Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven had been closed. Football matches and different outside occasions have additionally been suspended.
High winds and sandstorms are generated in China’s dry north, the place the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts sit surrounded by grasslands and, mountains and forests. China has fought a decades-long battle to reduce the affect of sandstorms, particularly in Beijing, which sits on the sting of an arid area and the place such storms can scale back visibility to virtually zero, ship sand into buildings and clothes, and trigger extreme discomfort to the eyes, nostril and ears.
Published – April 13, 2025 11:30 am IST
