A dust storm is choking a large swathe of northern China including the capital, Beijing, in yet another air quality crisis to affect the country.

　　一场沙尘暴正使得中国北部大部分地区陷入窒息，包括首都北京，又一个空气质量危机开始影响着这个国家。

　　Official air quality readings have soared well above the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) limit.

　　官方的空气质量报告已经大大超过世界卫生组织建议的限值。

　　Authorities are advising residents to avoid outdoor activity and for children and elderly people to remain indoors.

　　政府建议居民避免户外活动，儿童、老年人要呆在室内。

　　The dust is blowing in from neighbouring Mongolia and China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

　　这次的沙尘暴是从邻国蒙古国和中国的内蒙古自治区吹来的。

　　Beijing’s environmental agency said that as of 11:00 local time, the PM2.5 reading - which measures pollution in the form of small breathable particles - was 500 micrograms per cubic metre.

　　北京环保局表示，截至当地时间上午11时，PM2.5——以可吸入颗粒物浓度的形式来指示污染程度——浓度为500微克每立方米。

　　The WHO says the maximum safe level should be 25 micrograms per cubic metre.

　　世界卫生组织要求的最大安全水平应为25微克每立方米。

　　Authorities said Beijing would be affected until Thursday evening and visibility would be noticeably low throughout the day. Dozens of flights have been delayed or cancelled.

　　政府表示直到星期四晚上北京都将受到影响，整天的能见度都会十分低。几十班航班已经被延误或取消。

　　State media quoted city officials as saying that the dust storm began moving towards Beijing in the late afternoon on Wednesday, and enveloped the city overnight.

　　国内媒体也引用官方说法表示沙尘暴在星期三下午开始向北京蔓延，并且会整夜笼罩着这个城市。

　　The dust storm has also affected, to varying degrees, a vast swathe of northern China stretching from the far west province of Xinjiang to eastern Heilongjiang, with Inner Mongolia experiencing particularly bad conditions.

　　沙尘暴也在不同程度上影响广大的中国北部地区，从距离很远的西部地区新疆一直延伸到东部的黑龙江，包括内蒙古地区情况都十分恶劣。

　　Chinese people have, as usual, not hesitated to take to social media to vent their frustration.

　　中国人像往常一样会毫不犹豫地利用社交媒体来发泄他们的不满。

　　"Sandstorm is hitting Beijing. I feel closer to lung cancer," said one commenter on microblogging network Sina Weibo.

　　一位网友在新浪微博上说：“沙尘暴袭击北京，我觉得我离肺癌更近了，。

　　Others made comparisons to the capital’s infamous smog problem.

　　其他人把这次的沙尘暴与资本主义国家的臭名昭著的烟雾问题进行了对比。

　　"I’ve got used to smog, time to try something new. If I have to choose one to live in, between sandstorm and smog, I prefer the former," said another Weibo commenter.

　　另一位微博网友这样评论：“我已经习惯了雾霾，是时候尝试新事物了。如果我必须在沙尘暴和雾霾之间选择其一，我宁愿选择前者。”

　　China has seen particularly intense air pollution in recent years, especially in winter as many of its northern cities still largely rely on burning coal for heating.

　　最近几年中国已经出现了特别严重的空气污染，尤其是在冬天，许多北方城市在很大程度上仍然依靠烧煤取暖。

　　But it is also increasingly affected by dust storms, as its cities expand towards nearby deserts which in turn have been spreading due to climate change.

　　但沙尘暴的影响越来越大，既因为城市向附近沙漠地区的扩张也同时由于气候的变化。

　　Authorities have been attempting to halt this progress by planting more trees, besides other measures to cut pollution such as reforming the coal industry and shutting factories.

　　除了如改革煤炭行业、关闭工厂等措施来减少污染，政府也一直在尝试通过种植更多的树木来遏制这种发展

　　Beijing issued its first red alert, the highest level in air pollution alerts, in 2015, and has done so a few more times since.

　　在2015年，北京首次发布红色警报，是在空气污染警报中的最高等级，从2015年起，红色警报已经发布了好几次。

（编辑：何莹莹）