Beijing shrouded in smog 'white-out'

Beijing is engulfed in a thick white haze just one day out from the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Athletes, tourists and residents of the Chinese capital woke up to find the silver Bird's Nest stadium disappeared within a cloud of smog — exactly what organising authorities prayed against so close to the Games.

Ninemsn video editor Richard Wiles described the visibility as the worst in the 10 days since he arrived in Beijing.

"After clear days earlier in the week we were hopeful of good filming conditions, but then this thick smog rolled back in overnight," he said.

"Visibility is down to a few hundred metres."

As the hours tick down to the showpiece Olympic opening ceremony, chances this heavy smog will lift today appear slim.

"It's a very still day in Beijing and there doesn't appear to be much sign of rain today, which are the conditions that normally drive out the smog," Mr Wiles said.

However, rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon. Conditions are then tipped to be favourable but mainly overcast for tomorrow night's opening ceremony, the ABC reports.

Organisers insist air quality is safe despite complaints from some athletes, who are also coping with high humidity and temperatures of 34 degrees.

The air quality of the Chinese capital has proved a thorny public relations problem but organisers say plans to invoke further emergency measures before tomorrow's opening ceremony would not be activated.

Authorities have already removed one million of the city's 3.3m cars from the roads and shut down more than 100 polluting factories and building sites in an attempt to clear the smog.

Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG) spokesman Sun Weide yesterday backed away from banning even more vehicles in Beijing and surrounding areas if conditions worsened.

"The conditions are not unfavourable at the moment and my understanding is that we are not going to be taking any extra measures," he told reporters.

Despite reassurances from both Beijing organisers and the International Olympic Committee, some of the 10,000 visiting elite athletes have continued to express their concern about pollution levels.

Four US cyclists who caused a storm when they arrived at Beijing airport wearing masks have apologised to organisers.