
The Forbidden City is seen from the top of Jingshan Park during a heavily polluted day in Beijing, China.
Beijing's authorities ordered limits on cars, factories and construction sites during a red alert for smog from Tuesday through midday today.
They also told schools to close, though some had reopened by Wednesday.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection said the emergency measures had cut pollutant emissions by 30 percent from 7 am to 5 pm Tuesday. It also said that car emissions went down by 32 percent from Sunday to Tuesday because of the vehicle restrictions that came into effect Tuesday morning, and because there were fewer cars on the roads on Monday night after authorities announced the restrictions based on odd or even license plate numbers.
Beijing imposed its first red-alert the highest on a four-color scale that has been in use for two years following a forecast of high pollution for three consecutive days.
Today, the air quality had improved to a moderate level from previously hazardous levels, according to the US Embassy's air quality index.