--- description: The smog in Beijing and parts of northern China has grown so bad that some have likened conditions to living through a "nuclear winter" title: PHOTOS: China's Smog Conditions Like 'Nuclear Winter' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b12f8f790ab656d/6986834de8524b250760193b/china-smog-cover-03.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China's Apocalyptic Hellscape by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2014 8:36 PM CUT  Cars drive on the Three Ring Road amid the heavy haze in Beijing, Feb. 26, 2014. Cars drive on the Three Ring Road amid the heavy haze in Beijing, Feb. 26, 2014.Jason Lee—Reuters by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2014 8:36 PM CUT The smog in Beijing and parts of northern China has grown so bad that some have likened conditions to living through a “nuclear winter” **Related content:** [China’s Smog Is So Bad They’re Now Calling It a ‘Nuclear Winter’](http://world.time.com/2014/02/26/beijing-air-pollution-nuclear-winter/ "undefined")  A general view of the pollution covered Beijing CBD on Feb. 25, 2014 in Beijing. Lintao Zhang—Getty Images  People look at an area of central Beijing blanketed in smog on Feb. 24, 2014. Kyodo—Landov  Cars drive on the Three Ring Road amid the heavy haze in Beijing, Feb. 26, 2014. Jason Lee—Reuters  CCTV Building is shrouded in heavy smog on Feb. 25, 2014, in Beijing. ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images  A tourist wearing a face mask climbs Jingshan Hill beside the Forbidden City as heavy air pollution continues to shroud Beijing on Feb. 26, 2014. Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images  A chimney of a heating plant is obscured by heavy haze as commuters walk through a bridge linking a subway station and a bus station on a severely polluted day in Beijing, Feb. 25, 2014. Alexander F. Yuan—AP  Chinese tourists wearing face masks visit Tiananmen Square as heavy air pollution continues to shroud Beijing on Feb. 26, 2014. Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images  QINGDAO, CHINA - FEBRUARY 25: (CHINA OUT) Buildings are shrouded in heavy smog on February 25, 2014, in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China. Altogether 1.43 million sq km of China's land territory, nearly 15 percent of the total, have been covered by persistent smog in recent days, according to news report. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) \*\*\* BESTPIX \*\*\* ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images  Children walk back home after school on a severely polluted day in Shijiazhuang, in northern China's Hebei province, Feb. 26, 2014. Alexander F. Yuan—AP  A woman tries to take photos on the river bank in the haze in southwest Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 23, 2014. Ran Wen—EPA  A farmer shovels in a field near electric pylons in heavy haze on a severely polluted day in Shijiazhuang, in northern China's Hebei province, Feb. 26, 2014. Alexander F. 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