BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Beijing and much of eastern China was hit by dust and sand Monday, two days after the capital was plagued by the first severe sandstorm this spring on Saturday.

"The sandstorm from Mongolia arrived in Beijing Monday morning, and is expected to weaken by Monday evening," said Zhang Mingying, senior engineer with the Beijing Meteorological Station.

He said the sandstorm borne by strong winds had swept over north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Shanxi and Hebei provinces.

"Dust and sand left from Saturday's sandstorm was still affecting Beijing Monday," Zhang said.

"Although the sky was not as orange as Saturday, the smell of the dust was stronger on Monday," said Li Nan, a Beijing resident.

The Beijing environment monitoring center has ranked Monday's air quality as "level four," meaning it was hazardous with moderate pollution. The level was one grade lower than that of Saturday, which was graded was level five, the worst pollution.