According to the municipal environmental protection bureau, Beijing's air quality will plunge from "fairly good" on Sunday to "seriously polluted" today.
Air quality will improve on Tuesday night with the arrival of cold air.
According to the National Meteorological Center, the smog will also hit northern and central China provinces of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan.
Beijing has a four-tier alert system for air pollution, with red being the highest, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
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Two days ago Beijing Municipal Reform and Development Commission said it will spend more than 18.22 billion yuan ( USD 2.6 billion) to fight air pollution in 2017.
Beijing aims to control the annual average density of PM 2.5 to around 60 micrograms this year, Lu Yan, head of the Beijing Municipal Reform and Development Commission said.
Beijing has also announced formation of Environmental police to punish violators of regulations to curb pollution.
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