China swings into action to tackle new cold wave

A cold wave has swept across China over the past several days. Although the northern part of the country no longer experiences snowfall, action has been taken to ensure residents can go about their daily lives as usual.

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

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

Under the State Grid Corporation of China, the Jilin power supply company has beefed up maintenance of the rebuilt power supply network and inspected hidden hazards in Shulan City, which was hit by a flood in early August. At the same time, the company pledged to reduce the wait time for power repair service to 30 minutes.

Heating companies in the province are also making efforts to ensure that the local population has regular heating services. The Chuncheng Heating Company Limited provides heating to more than 500,000 users in Changchun, the 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 in 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 clean the ice and snow at railway switches. They also check important sections such as the bridges and tunnels to ensure safety.

Starting from December 14, 37 vehicles were dispatched to clean ice along the tracks, and close to 500 workers were put on standby in case of an emergency.

In China's capital, Beijing, which had been blanketed by heavy snow, the ensuing icing continued to affect traffic on December 16. According to local sources, as of 10 a.m., at least 45 trains from the Beijing West Railway Station and seven from the Fengtai Railway Station were canceled.

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, December 16 to January 1, 2024, allows locals to take 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 heartwarming."

China's national observatory on December 16 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 December 18 to 20, dragging temperatures down by up to eight degrees Celsius.

(Cover image via VCG)