Beijing wakes up to a yellow sandstorm Monday with the capital still cloaked in gritty air.

Strong winds whip up sand from the desert each spring and dump much of it on Beijing.

Desertification of the country's west and Mongolian steppes has made sandstorms worse in recent years, reaching as far away as South Korea and Japan and turning rain and snow a yellow color.

The director of environmental NGO GreenSOS says sandstorms could be directly linked to China's rapid industrialization.

[Wang Yongchen, Director, GreenSOS]:
"Some think that the storms might be from the dried out rivers around Beijing. The sandstorm is directly connected to dust from the dry riverbeds which is blowing into Beijing. I think there are two reasons behind this—one is climate change, and the other is over-exploitation of China's rivers and water resources."

Many of Beijing's residents wear facemasks on the streets.

[Zhao Lan, Beijing Resident]:
"It's very difficult to breathe through the dust. When I arrived at work, the dust was all over my clothes and I couldn't see anything clearly."

This sandstorm hit Beijing on Saturday and carried huge amounts of dust with winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour.