BEIJING. March 20. KAZINFORM A severe sandstorm that plagued northwestern China in the past few weeks arrived in Beijing Friday night, packing strong winds and tonnes of sand; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

Beijingers woke up to see clouds of yellow dust in the air Saturday morning. The loose soil and dust that had traveled hundreds of miles blanketed Beijing's streets, covering parked vehicles and making its way into apartment buildings.

"I was amazed to see the ground had turned yellow overnight," said Beijing salesman Li Ming. "It reminds me of the dirt road of my rural hometown."

Li's home province Gansu in the northwest is one of the areas that suffer the most from sandstorms.

Before it arrived in Beijing, the sandstorm had wreaked havoc Friday in the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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