China steps up emergency response as temperatures drop sharply

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities have ramped up emergency measures to protect residents, infrastructure and energy supplies as a powerful cold wave grips large parts of the country, resulting in heavy snow, strong winds and plunging temperatures.

In North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, temperatures fell significantly after a surge of very cold air arrived on Sunday, with the lowest temperature in some areas reaching minus 44.5 degrees Celsius, according to the regional meteorological bureau.

In the regional capital of Hohhot, temperatures dropped below minus 20 degrees Celsius early on Monday, prompting the city to keep dozens of 24-hour public warming stations open for sanitation workers. Heating service hotlines were also activated around the clock to respond to complaints and ensure stable indoor temperatures, while the city of Ordos secured coal supplies for both household use and centralized heating systems.

The cold wave is also posing challenges to agricultural production. In Chifeng, a major hub for facility agriculture, local agricultural authorities dispatched technical teams to farming areas to help growers reinforce greenhouse structures, repair plastic coverings and activate temporary heating equipment to ensure stable winter supplies of organic vegetables.

To maintain transport links under harsh conditions, transportation departments across Inner Mongolia identified more than 700 road sections vulnerable to snow and ice. Over 200 maintenance teams were dispatched to clear snow along nearly 28,000 kilometers of highways to keep traffic moving.

Further south, freezing rain and sleet have affected large areas of Central China's Hunan province, disrupting rail transport. China Railway Guangzhou Group Co., Ltd. said some passenger train services were suspended or rerouted from Tuesday to Wednesday due to adverse weather conditions.

At major stations in Changsha, the provincial capital, anti-slip mats were laid in slippery areas and warning signs installed. Stations opened extra ticket refund and rescheduling counters as needed. Railway departments across Hunan have also stepped up equipment inspections to ensure safe operations during the cold spell.

As the cold wave extends its impact beyond transportation, authorities in multiple regions have moved to safeguard power and energy supplies critical to daily life.

In East China's Shandong province, temperatures dropped sharply, triggering a surge in electricity demand. According to State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company, the power load reached nearly 116 million kilowatts at noon on Monday, setting a new winter electricity load record for the second consecutive day.

Local authorities have upgraded and renovated power lines in key areas, with emergency repair teams placed on high alert to ensure rapid response to potential failures. In Linshu county of the city of Linyi, also in Shandong, maintenance worker Yang Xu and his colleagues braved strong winds and snow to conduct "health checks" on power supply facilities.

"The harsher the weather, the more critical it is to ensure substations operate flawlessly," Yang said. "Our task is to guarantee the reliable functioning of power transformation equipment under extreme low-temperature conditions."

In the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, while most residents were still asleep in the early hours of Tuesday, staff at the Hutubi gas storage facility, the country's largest, had already commenced inspections amid temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius.

"We are responsible for seasonal peak shaving of the west-to-east gas transmission project, emergency gas supply and seasonal peak shaving in northern Xinjiang," said inspector Zhou Weidong. "It is our job to make sure residents have enough gas for their needs."

"The cold wave has brought sharp temperature drops, with widespread impacts caused by snowstorms and freezing rain," noted Ma Xuekuan, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Center (NMC), while adding that the driving force behind this cold wave is a powerful cold air mass originating from Siberia.

The NMC on Tuesday morning maintained alerts for strong gales and road icing, warning that hazardous conditions could continue to affect transportation and outdoor activities in some regions.