CHINA: Cold snap brings snow to Shanghai, stalls transportation in other areas of China
Record ID:
1375148
CHINA: Cold snap brings snow to Shanghai, stalls transportation in other areas of China
- Title: CHINA: Cold snap brings snow to Shanghai, stalls transportation in other areas of China
- Date: 17th December 2010
- Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (DECEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) SHANGHAI PUDONG SKYLINE ACROSS HUANGPU RIVER BUILDINGS IN PUDONG PEOPLE STANDING IN SNOW WITH UMBRELLAS MEN TAKING PHOTOS BOAT PASSING ON RIVER OLD COLONIAL ERA BUILDINGS ON THE BUND SNOW FALLING IN FRONT OF CLOCK WOMEN TAKING PHOTOS WOMAN SMILING AS SHE TAKES PHOTO WOMAN SMILING AS SHE POSES FOR PHOTO VEHICLES DRIVING ON ROAD SNOW FALLING IN FRONT OF SIGN READING "RAINY AND SNOWY WEATHER, REDUCE SPEED DRIVE SLOWLY" CARS DRIVING INTO BUND TUNNEL
- Embargoed: 1st January 2011 14:12
- Keywords:
- Location: China, China
- Country: China
- Topics: Weather,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
- Reuters ID: LVABYEKO2Q2AGO6YF47IO8M9S2Y
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Rare snow delights tourists on Shanghai's historic Bund, but freezing weather causes chaos across much of China, grounding planes and leaving motorists stranded.
China's eastern financial hub Shanghai saw its first snow this winter on Wednesday (December 15) as a cold spell swept across much of China, causing chaos in areas that don't see much snow.
Tourists on the city's historic Bund waterfront were not concerned, smiling for photos in front of the colonial era buildings and towering skyscrapers on the other side of the river.
Temperatures across usually-temperate regions of central, eastern and southern China have dropped to near freezing in the last two days, state-run Xinhua (pron: sin-hwah) news agency reported, warning that blizzards would continue to push further south until Friday (December 17).
Eight thousand people were affected when snow and ice grounded planes at Xiaoshan (pron: seeaow-shan) airport in the eastern city of Hangzhou (pron: hang-joh), Zhejiang province (jer-jeeang), on Wednesday, state-run China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
One thousand military personnel were deployed, and after seven hours of scraping they cleared snow and ice over an area enough for 56 planes to park by Thursday morning, the report said.
In the country's far north and northwest, used to freezing winters, extreme cold and gale-force winds forced the closure of roads, cut power and stranded vehicles.
Over 50 drivers were stranded on a stretch of highway in Tacheng (pron: tah-cheng) in Xinjiang (pron: sin-jeeang) Uighur Autonomous region on Wednesday before rescue workers evacuated them to safety.
In neighbouring Inner Mongolia Autonomous region, heavy snow and high winds paralysed much of the 304 highway, leaving hundreds of trucks backed up and stranded overnight in temperatures of up to minus 30, CCTV reported.
All of them were rescued by Thursday, the report said.
The freezing cold has caused concern that China might see a repeat of extreme weather in early 2008 that brought much of the country to a standstill over the Chinese New Year period, killing 129 people and leaving millions stranded and unable to see loved ones over the holiday period, Xinhua said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None