Meteorologists are urging those heading outdoors for the upcoming National Day holidays to keep at least one eye on the weather.

"Wherever you go, you must pay close attention to the local weather forecast," weather officials and experts from the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said yesterday at a press conference in Beijing.

"In the North, temperatures will drop 6 C to 10 C on October 1 and 2, the first two days of the week-long holidays, with the coming of a strong downward cold air front," said Wang Bangzhong, deputy director of the Forecasting Services and Disaster Mitigation Department of the CMA.

During the first day of the holidays, drizzle to moderate rain is also forecast for parts of northern China and areas between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers as well as regions between the Huaihe and Yangtze rivers.

"You have to be careful if traveling by boat during the two days as winds will be up to force 6 across some rivers and lakes in the North," Wang said.

Fine days are expected to return to the north over the rest of the holidays as temperatures climb with clear or cloudy days dominating most parts of the north.

People in Beijing should be lucky enough to enjoy the entire holiday period without experiencing any extreme weather changes with temperatures staying between 21 C and 25 C with no heavy rains or strong winds, Wang added.

In the south, temperatures will fall 4 C to 8 C on the first day of the holidays.

It will put an end to the 'old wives' summer' (a spell of hot weather after the beginning of Autumn) which has affected many parts of the South since September 11 with maximum daily temperatures up as high as 39 C.

Hot on the heels of the cool beginning of the holidays, typhoon Longwang is likely to sweep over parts of South China and areas south of Jiangsu Province with strong winds and heavy rains between October 2 and 4, Wang warned.

Yesterday, Longwang was in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, 1,330 kilometres southeast of Taipei.

A major rain belt will hit the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on the last three days of the holidays.

(China Daily September 30, 2005)