But after just two nights, the government says the PM 2.5 air pollutant index has soared in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xian and other major cities, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

BBC: China media: New Year haze

Southern Metropolis Daily reports that the newly-established National Railway Bureau will keep 130 former railways ministry staff and transfer hundreds of other staff to its commercial arms or local branches by June.

BBC: China media: Debate on North Korea

Also in Guangdong, Zhao Haibin, a former policeman nicknamed "House Grandfather" for allegedly buying 192 properties with fake identification, has been "double fired" from his posts in the Communist Party and job in the police on suspicion of forgery, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

BBC: China media: Brics as 'global force'

Regional papers such as Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily have multi-page reports.

BBC: China morning round-up: Nobel Literature Prize to China