Air Pollution Is Turning China Into a Horror Movie, and This Eerie Photo Is Proof

Hoofing through the woods of a Beijing suburb, a flock of sheep is struck dumb in its tracks as clouds of smog envelop it—not an unheard-of turn of events when, according to the World Health Organization, air pollution in China’s capital has climbed more than 25 times above the safe level. On bad days, factories close, children miss school, and a noxious fog spreads over provinces hundreds of miles outside the city. Still, the flock must go on to greener pastures, undeterred by the haze ahead.

Photograph by Lintao Zhang