Heavy Snow Hits Northern China

Heavy snow and low temperatures have swept across North China, putting pressure on local transportation and supply of daily necessities.

Meanwhile, relevant authorities have taken immediate and effective measures to alleviate the impact of the cold weather on people's lives.

Chen Xi takes a closer look.

From Saturday to Sunday, a record heavy snowfall struck many cities in North China.

The local meteorological bureau says the capital city of Beijing reported the heaviest daily snowfall in nearly six decades on Sunday.

An average layer of snow reaching 35 centimeters has decorated the city.

Municipal authorities have deployed workers to clear away snow on the streets to maintain smooth transportation.

Tian Xiangdong, a dustman in Beijing's Haidian district, says more than 500 of his colleagues have worked around the clock to sweep the roads.

"570 dustmen, that's almost all of my colleagues, swept snow off the street from yesterday morning until early this morning. After a beak of two hours, all of us again got to work at about 6 this morning. We want to create smooth traffic conditions with the help of snow-sweepers."

It's estimated that more than 3,000 snow-sweepers and 15 thousand workers have been dispatched to clear away snow in Beijing, Tianjin municipality and Hebei province.

Meanwhile, primary and middle schools in Beijing and Tianjin were closed on Monday to ease pressure on city traffic.

In addition, the cold weather has triggered price hikes of vegetables in Beijing.

Zhang Quan is a retailer at Xinfadi agricultural products market, the biggest trading center of agricultural products in Beijing.

"The cabbage sold at 1.3 yuan a kilogram before the snowfall. But it now sells at almost two yuan per kilogram. The average prices of vegetables went up by about 50 percent in this market due to the snowfall."

Despite the temporary price hikes, local officials have promised to ensure an adequate supply of vegetables in the market.
Authorities in Beijing have begun to make full use of government vegetable reserves to fill possible gaps in the market.

Moreover, emergency measures have been taken to transport vegetables from southern China.

China's Central Meteorological Station has issued the third orange alert since the first one on Saturday, extending the warning against a strong cold wave and strong winds.

From early last week, temperatures in most northern parts of China are forecast to dip to minus 20 to 32 degrees Celsius, and the central and south regions in North China will drop to between minus 10 to 18 degrees Celsius.

Chen Xi, CRI news.