The mercury is expected to fall to -10 degrees Centigrade today as winds rip through at a speed of about 11 meters per second, said Zhang Mingying from the Beijing Meteorological Observatory.

During the previous days of snowfall, which started last Thursday, the lowest temperature was only about -4 degrees Centigrade and there was almost no wind.

Residents have been advised to dress for the cooler conditions to prevent illnesses, like the common cold or flu.

On Sunday night, the snowfall reached its peak with a maximum thickness of 10 centimeters on the ground, according to the Beijing Meteorological Observatory.

Despite still being a novelty for local residents, the snow has also created problems.

During Saturday to yesterday morning, the Jishuitan Hospital in Beijing's Xicheng District received more than 300 people who suffered injuries from falling down on slippery roads.

More than 700,000 people had been sweeping snow in the city's streets until yesterday morning, the Beijing Evening News reported yesterday.

About 6,000 police have been on duty to clear traffic congestion, Xinhua News Agency quoted the director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau's Department of Traffic Control Li Jianhua as saying.

Consequently, traffic conditions in Beijing have remained normal and no expressways originating from the capital have been closed, Xinhua reported.

Beijing is not the only place that has been blanketed by snow.

In Hulunbuir, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the latest snowfall has added to the trying conditions being faced by herdsmen due to a heavy snowstorm about the middle of last month.

According to Guan Yali at the Hulunbuir Civil Affairs Bureau, more than 26,000 herdsmen and their families in four counties in the region were affected by the snowstorm that lasted for 18 hours and was accompanied by winds up to force 8, which travel about 21 meters per second.

(China Daily December 24, 2002)