December 22, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 23, 1429

BEIJING, Dec 21: Snow and freezing weather have swept large parts of northern China causing travel chaos for thousands, state media and the meteorological department said on Sunday.

In Beijing’s neighbouring city of Tianjin, all flights were cancelled at the Binhai International Airport due to heavy snow, which also sealed off road and rail links, state television said.

Airports in Qingdao and Jinan in Shandong province were also affected by snow, with many flights delayed, the official Xinhua news agency added.

Central Beijing was bright but windy, with lows of minus 12 degree centigrade, the China Meteorological Administration said on its website (www.cma.gov.cn).

But in parts of north-eastern China the temperature plummeted up to 17 degrees Celsius to minus 26 degrees Celsius and below, it added.

North-western Gansu and Shanxi provinces and the northern region of Inner Mongolia also experienced a sharp temperature drop, heavy snow and sleet, state television said.

The national weather forecaster said steep temperature falls, snow and sleet would continue to hit parts of central, eastern and southern China for the next two days.—Reuters