China swings into action to tackle fresh cold wave

BEIJING -- China was swept by cold wave over the past several days. Although the northern part of the country no longer experiences snowfall, actions have been taken to ensure the normal life of residents.

Northeast China's Jilin province issued a new yellow alert for a cold wave on Saturday, with many parts of the province forecasted to experience a drop of temperature by 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.

The Jilin power supply company under the State Grid Corporation of China has beefed up maintenance of the rebuilt power supply network, and carried out inspections for hidden hazard in the Shulan city which was hit by flood in early August. At the same time, the company pledged to reduce waiting time for power repair service to 30 minutes.

Heating companies in the province are also making efforts to ensure that the local people could enjoy heating services in the cold days. The Chuncheng Heating Company Limited provides heating to more than 500,000 users in Changchun, capital of Jilin. According to Li Yeji, head of the company's production department, their production, dispatch, customer service and emergency repair personnel are on duty 24 hours a day to solve problems on a timely basis for its users.

Liaoning province also saw a plunge of temperatures with the eastern part experiencing a drop of more than 20 degrees Celsius. The China Railway Shenyang Group Co Ltd has mobilized more than 8,000 staff members to monitor the road conditions and on time clean the ice and snow at railway switches, while checkups are conducted at important sections such as the bridges and tunnels.

Starting from Thursday night, 37 vehicles were dispatched to clean ice along the tracks, and close to 500 workers were ready in case of an emergency repair work.

In China's capital Beijing, which had been blanketed by heavy snow, the ensuing icing continued to affect traffic on Saturday. According to local sources, as of 10 am, at least 45 trains from the Beijing West Railway Station and seven from the Fengtai Railway Station were cancelled.

To facilitate local passengers, the Shijiazhuang Transportation Investment Development Group Co Ltd in the capital of North China's Hebei province has exempted them from paying fares when using public transportation. The free service available from Saturday to Jan 1, 2024, allows locals to take the buses and the three subway lines during its service hours.

"The roads are slippery after snow, and it is dangerous to ride bicycles," said an unnamed resident in the city. "The free-ride public transportation service is really heart-warming."

China's national observatory Saturday issued a blue alert, the lowest in the country's four-tier warning system, for a cold wave that is to grip most of the country, bringing freezing temperatures and strong winds.

The National Meteorological Center warned that another cold wave is expected to affect central and eastern parts of the country from Dec 18 to 20, dragging temperatures down by up to eight degrees Celsius.