Shanghai's iconic skyline has been slowly disappearing all week, cloaked by a thick acrid haze of smog. Reports of heavy pollution have circulated since Monday, but levels hit a new high on Friday.
The unprecedented air pollution made it hard for residents to breathe and even see. Authorities halted construction sites and all sporting events, ordered schoolchildren to stay indoors and pulled 30% of government vehicles from the roads. The city's air quality level exceeded the maximum of 500, its highest since the city started reporting pollution data. A level of 300 is considered severely polluted.
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"I feel like I'm living in clouds of smog," Zheng Qiaoyun, a local resident, told the Associated Press. "I have a headache, I'm coughing, and it's hard to breathe on my way to my office."
The city's concentration of PM 2.5 particulates, a pollutant that can have health risks when in high concentrations, rose to 602.5 micrograms per cubic meter on Friday. That's 24 times higher than the World Health Organization's safety guideline of 25 micrograms.
These extreme levels of air pollution were created by burning coal, emissions from vehicles and industries, and unusual weather patterns. The results are apocalyptic scenes of an almost invisible city. We collected some of the most shocking pictures below.
Houses and buildings are covered with haze in Shanghai on Dec. 6.
Two men fly kites next to the Huangpu River on Dec. 5 in Shanghai.
Houses and buildings are covered with heavy haze in Shanghai on Dec. 4.
A pedestrian walks on a road in heavy smog in Shanghai on Dec. 5.
Workers wear the masks to protect them from air pollution in Shanghai on Dec. 6.
People use escalators with skyscrapers covered with haze in the background in Shanghai on Dec. 6.
A tourist with a protective mask takes her self portrait next to the Huangpu River covered with heavy haze in Shanghai on Dec. 6.
A view of skyscarpers in Shanghai.
College students wearing masks pose with plastic bags during a performance art to raise awareness of air pollution on Dec. 5, in Xi'an, China.
A view of the barely visible Shanghai skyline.
A woman wears a mask at night in Shanghai.
A view of the hazy Shanghai skyline at night.
A man crosses the street at night in Shanghai.
Another view of Shanghai buildings covered in smog.
Pollution made it hard to see traffic lights in Shanghai.
Another view of Shanghai covered by thick air pollution.
The sun peeks through a thick layer of smog in Shanghai.
A night view of pollution wrapping around skyscrapers in Shanghai.
A view of the smog from 45 floors up at Wheelock Place and West Nanjing Road in Shanghai.
Citizens walk along the river with a barely visible city in the background.
Another somber view of the river in Shanghai.
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Image: ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images