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Meteorologists in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region have dispelled people's wide concern about the sandstorms that have struck part of the region, saying it is "not unusual" to have such weather at this time of year.

 

Dusty conditions prevailed in the middle and west part of the region on Tuesday, with sandstorms in certain areas. Visibility in some of the worst-hit areas was reduced to less than 200 meters.

 

Floating dust will continue in the coming days in most parts of the region, said Shi Shaohong, section chief of the Inner Mongolian Meteorological Observatory.

 

Shi added that he and his colleagues were bombarded by calls asking when the dusty conditions would end.

 

Indeed, he said, there were two major rainfalls, on May 8 and 11, in parts of the region which provided relief to an area that has an average of only 40 centimeters of annual rainfall.

 

"However, most rain fell on the southern part while the northern part or border part of the region, which is mainly desert, remained fairly dry," he said.

 

Shi said he and his colleagues were ready to create artificial rainfall to reduce the drought.

 

Many Inner Mongolians view the bad weather as "annoying but unavoidable."

 

"Sandstorms come every year," said a worker from the Education Bureau of Xilin Gol League who refused to be named. "But they seem to be more frequent this year."

 

Schools, shops and restaurants have all remained open.

 

"We seldom suspend class, not once because of the weather, as far as I can remember," said the worker, adding that students usually attended schools near their houses.

 

"But there are fewer people in the street, people try to stay inside unless they really have to go out."

 

Zhang Jie, a farmer in Dabeigou Town of Duolun County, said he was only able to sow certain seeds into his farmland as it was too hard even for machines to plough.

 

"I know it is late, but we have to wait until the land is less dry to plant more seeds," he said.

 

He added: "We are affected by the sandstorm. We ourselves cannot walk steadily in the storm. How can we expect to sow our seeds evenly?"

 

Zhang also felt pity for the vast number of wild almond trees around the town, which were planted as part of the region's effort of "returning the land to green."

 

"It is the time for them to blossom," he said, "but so far, they haven't."

 

(China Daily May 18, 2006)