Record snowfall brings chaos to Beijing, northern China

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Beijing - The heaviest snowfall in nearly 60 years brought chaos to Beijing and much of northern China for a second day Monday, forcing the cancellation of flights and severely restricting road traffic. A meteorological station in southern Beijing on Sunday recorded the highest snowfall in January since 1951, state media reported.

Temperatures in the Chinese capital plummeted over the weekend and were forecast to reach a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius early Tuesday, which was expected to be the coldest day in Beijing in about 30 years.

Schools in Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin were closed Monday while many expressways were also closed to traffic as the government mobilized 300,000 people to clear snow from Beijing's largely empty streets.

Snow up to 33.5 centimeters accumulated in parts of central Beijing while the outlying Huairou district reported snow lying up to 37.5 centimeters deep.

Slush, snow and ice still covered even major roads by late Monday afternoon.

The city government sent text messages to many of Beijing's 17 million residents Monday, asking them to use public transport if they needed to go out and urging them to keep warm and take care not to slip on the icy streets.

About 90 per cent of flights to and from Beijing's Capital International Airport were delayed or canceled Sunday and Monday.

Aviation authorities said 655 flights from Beijing were canceled Sunday with the airport only able to operate one of its three runways.

One of the people affected was Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang, who was forced to cancel talks Monday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao because he could not fly into Beijing.

The main airports in Tianjin and the northern city of Hohhot, the capital of China's Inner Mongolia region, were closed Sunday.

About 1,400 passengers were rescued from a train stranded by heavy snow in Inner Mongolia.

Temperatures in Hohhot were forecast to drop as low as minus 23 degrees Monday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301984,record-snowfall-brings-chaos-to-beijing-northern-china.html.