NOTE: It was later found that this story was fake. Please see an update here. 

Beijing officials have begun displaying virtual sunrises on massive television screens due to the severity of the city's smog, which has become so bad in some areas that light is barely visible. 

Huge LED television screens that usually advertise famous destinations for tourists showed the sun moving over the horizon instead, in the Chinese capital's Tiananmen square on Thursday.

The smog was so thick on Thursday that Beijing residents were covered in a grey haze with a density of PM2.5 - about 350 to 500 micrograms - by the early afternoon, the Daily Mail reported. The World Health Organization suggests not being exposed to air pollution that measures less than 20 micrograms.

Commuters wore industrial-strength masks on their faces on Thursday to shield them from the cloud of grey that had descended upon the city.

"I couldn't see the tall buildings across the street this morning," a traffic official directing a Beijing intersection told the Daily Mail. "The smog has gotten worse in the last two to three years. I often cough, and my nose is always irritated. But what can you do? I drink more water to help my body discharge the toxins."

Air pollution authorities issued severe air warnings this week, urging commuters not to go outside until the smog dissipated.

But until then, the screen in Tiananmen will continue displaying the sun, in absence of the real thing, which remains cloaked beneath a blanket of pollution.

Many major Chinese cities have encountered serious smog issues, including the northern city of Harbin, which saw record-breaking high levels of pollution last year.

Much of China's smog issues are attributed to the country's use of coal burning for fuel and car emissions. China has passed some legislation in the recent past, in attempts to put caps on pollutant emissions.