More than 16,000 passengers were stranded in 2 major airports in western China, as thick fog blanketed Sichuan Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region over the weekend.

The Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, was closed on Sunday for more than five hours due to poor visibility. Four flights were canceled, and over 100 others were delayed, as more than 10,000 passengers were left stranded by the temporary shutdown. The airport extended its time of operation on Sunday in order to move passengers to other parts of the country.

Due to humid conditions, more fog is expected on Monday. Meanwhile, Xinjiang's Urumqi International Airport was also affected by heavy fog, which stranded thousands of passengers on Saturday evening. It was not until the following morning that normal operations resumed.

(CCTV January 19, 2009)