BEIJING — Red has been considered the color of prosperity and good fortune in China for centuries, and it is also the color of the Communist Party. But this week, the color took on a darker meaning here, as it began to symbolize the failure of the party to rein in toxic smog that regularly endangers the health of hundreds of millions of people in the country’s north.
The Beijing government sounded its first-ever air pollution red alert Monday night, prompting many of the city’s 22 million residents to take precautions through Thursday, when strong winds blew the smog away. The emergency measures ended at noon.
The declaration was like a wartime klaxon: Sales of masks and air purifiers soared, and parents kept their children indoors during mandatory school closings.