What measures are being taken to tackle China's soaring air-pollution? Insights from my recent trip

What measures are being taken to tackle China's soaring air-pollution, a problem that is linked to the country's coal-dependent energy sector?

While traveling to Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and Qingdao in December 2013, this is what I noticed from personal discussions and local media news:

• Power-plant-shut-downs affect the eastern coastal provinces: some coal-fired power plants were ordered to shut down, replaced by natural-gas-fired ones; some industry facilities were forced to close too
  
• Nanjing city life almost stopped: the city got its first red air quality alert on December 6, this included the closure of expressways, ferries, airports, bridges, schools,...
• Growing frustration over Christmas shopping in Shanghai: visits to touristic shopping streets and department stores dropped in Shanghai, despite Christmas sales
  
• Weather forecasts become the talk of the day: local media speculate on wind speeds and directions, in particular how many hours will it take to blow it all away...
  
• Air pollution jokes in Chinese micro-blogs become viral: Think you lost your eyesight this morning? Relax, its just polluted outside your window!
  
• Is clean-tech THE new business opportunity? sales for indoor air purifiers increased and good quality masks sell out in 7Eleven stores quickly
• New air pollution fines emerged: eight cities in China's north eastern Liaoning province were fined with a total of about 54 million Yuan (about 8.9 million USD) as their air quality targets were not full-filled
  
• New training on how to land an air plane safely during smog: China's pilots will receive a new training on blind plane landings as of January 2014
  
• Car-ban in effect in China's capital: 1/3 of government vehicles were banned from the circulation in Beijing during some days in December 2013
  

For further reading, I recommend this article  of the China Securities Journal: Local governments caught between pressure for clean air and increased GDP. Below is a recent, interesting 2 min video from the BBC about this topic.  ------------ Your comments are welcome!