Cold air freezes China, disrupts traffic
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Temperatures plummeted in Beijing and other Chinese provinces Tuesday, causing flight delays and highway closures.
The temperature dropped below freezing and wind speeds rose to 21.6kilometers per hour in Beijing, said an official of the municipal meteorology bureau.
"It became freezing very quickly. My ears feel frozen outside," said a pedestrian named Lin Jiao in Beijing.
The temperature was expected to drop to minus 10 degrees Celsius by Friday, but it would rise after the weekend, experts said.
The airport in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province was closed at 9 a.m. due to snow, said an official of the airport.
Almost 1,000 passengers were stranded at the airport, the official said.
The snow also closed nine highways in the province, said the provincial highway administration.
Snow and rain began late Monday in east China's Jiangsu Procvince and were expected to last for the next two days, according to the provincial meteorology bureau.
Experts reminded the public to remember the risks of snow on traffic and agriculture.
The cold air arrived with rain in north China's Guangdong Province. The temperature was lower than 5 degrees Celsuis in some cities, according to the provincial meteorology bureau.
A new front of cold air would arrive Friday and Saturday, experts said.
China's eastern Fujian Province also experienced cold air with a drop of 12 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and such weather is expected to influence the province till Dec. 21. The lowest temperature would be minus five degrees Celsius in Fujian.
The temperature in Shanghai will drop more than eight degrees Celsius since late Tuesday and the lowest temperature will reach minus six degrees since Friday, said the municipal meteorological bureau.
In east China's Anhui Province, it began to snow on late Monday and the snowfall is expected to continue to Wednesday.
The lowest temperature will be minus eight degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, said an official of the provincial meteorology bureau.
A traffic policeman died on duty in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province Monday in the snowy weather.
The policeman named Li Muduo, 46, male, was hit by a vehicle running at a high speed at 1:30 p.m. when he was dealing with a traffic accident on a highway in Shangluo City of Shaanxi, police said.
Li's colleague Wang Yudong was seriously injured and sent to hospital. Wang had been in stable conditions after medical treatment, police said.
The driver had been detained and further investigation is underway.
