Mayor flies out of Beijing smog

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his entourage spent Tuesday in Beijing, where a siege of thick air pollution forced dozens of flight cancellations. Mark wondered earlier at LA Biz Observed if the mayor would be able to get a flight to his next destination. I was told by City Hall late tonight that Villaraigosa's group did fly out to Chongqing without incident. Before they left Beijing, Villaraigosa helped Forever 21 announce the opening of a flagship store in the Chinese capital. L.A. Times reporter David Pierson observed that "the person at the ceremony who appeared to be making the most effort to look fashionable was Villaraigosa's girlfriend, Lu Parker, who paired black knee-high boots with faux snakeskin pants and a black blazer." I scoured the net for pics, but only found this one of Villaraigosa meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan.

By the way: Villaraigosa is tweeting from China, but Parker so far has maintained Twitter silence. She also wasn't listed in the press release naming the delegation that is along on the trip.

Umm...: Anyone want to caption this photo?

Photo: Xinhua/Huang Jingwen