Photos of China's 'Airpocalypse' - where industrial smog makes the country into living hell for half a billion people

Jason Lee/Reuters

While Americans embrace the crisp, cool air of the holiday season, on the other side of the globe, about a half billion people living in northern China face the "airpocalypse" - or smog season.

The thick, toxic air has caused flights to be canceled, classes to be suspended, and alerts to be issued by the government encouraging people to insulate themselves from air. Under a charcoal-tinted sky and toxic fumes, half a billion people can't live or step outside without wearing masks.

It's a living hell.

As someone who grew up in China for 18 years, the first time I saw blue sky and white clouds was four years ago when I first arrived in Boston for college. I'm not even from the North, where the worst of the smog all but blocks out the sun.

Even having grown up in China, I'm still shocked seeing these pictures - pictures of people trying to live their life under threat, pictures showing what a country has to sacrifice in order to be the world's second-largest economy.

By the way, if you feel the pictures below are not clear or bright enough, it's not because of the picture quality - it's the smog.