More snow on way for northern China

More than 4,300 police dispatched to ensure safety of roads in Beijing

A blue alert for heavy snow was renewed by China's meteorological authorities on Sunday as they warned of sustained snowfalls and lower temperatures in northern regions in the coming three days.

Beijing residents woke up to snowy scenes on Sunday after heavy snow started falling in the morning. Thanks to timely measures from local authorities, few problems were reported in downtown areas, but snow made some roads slippery.

A 27-year-old driver surnamed Yang, from Handan, Hebei province, said he saw one traffic accident happen in the capital due to slippery road conditions before finishing work at 9 am on Sunday.

Instead of braving the snow on his electric bicycle, he decided to head home after work by taxi, at a cost of about 50 yuan ($7.9), roughly a tenth of his daily income. He was a bit hesitant to spend the money, but didn't want to catch a cold.

To ensure normal operation of the capital's transportation system, the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau dispatched over 4,300 traffic police officers to key road sections on Sunday.

In a news release, it also said it had ratcheted up patrols and online monitoring to enhance emergency responses.

A vast stretch of northern China was engulfed by snow from Saturday night, including parts of Shanxi, Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces, as well as the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, the China Meteorological Administration said.

Up to 7 centimeters of snow was reported in some areas by Sunday morning, with more on the way, it said.

Temperatures fell by 4 to 8 C in many areas in northern China from 5 am Saturday to 5 am Sunday, it said, adding that some places saw falls of more than 12 C.

It said snow will continue to fall in many areas, including parts of North and Northeast China, in the coming three days, with temperatures forecast to decrease by another 4 to 6 C. Northern parts of Beijing were told to expect 1 to 4 cm of snow in the 24 hours from 8 am Sunday.

The National Meteorological Center advised people to stay indoors and urged local authorities to take precautions to ensure the safety of roads, railways and electricity and telecommunications facilities.

The snow kept railway and airport workers busy.

China State Railway Group made 10 posts on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, on Sunday. Illustrated with photos or videos, all but one of them detailed efforts to remove snow and ensure the safe operation of the railway system.

Beijing West Railway Station said that by 8:30 pm, snow had led to delays affecting about 20 high-speed trains heading to or from the station.

A total of 567 flights were scheduled to take off from or land at Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday. By 5 pm, 55 had been canceled and 298 had taken off or landed. Workers had to carry out de-icing operations for 148 flights, airport management said.

It said almost 200 workers, as well as 55 snow sweepers and 56 aircraft de-icing trucks, would be on standby on Monday to deal with snow.

"Generally, the operation of the airport is normal," it said.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.