Due to continuous high temperatures over the past couple of days, a frozen section of the Yellow River, the second longest in China, reduced to 278 kilometers by Monday in east China's Shandong Province.

The 5,400-km Yellow River runs for 617 kilometers through Shandong, where it froze for 329 kilometers last Wednesday.

As of Monday, the river was frozen in 95 sections of its Shandong course, and ice thickness averaged between four and 16 centimeters, with 30 centimeters at the thickest, according to the Yellow River affairs bureau of the province.

Experts with the bureau said the frozen section was expected to further shorten as the warm weather is due to continue in the coming three days.

However, they warned counties and cities along the river to closely watch the weather, temperatures and flow changes to prevent possible damages on the embankment brought about by abrupt changes in the ice.

As January is the coldest season in northern China and temperatures are expected to drop later this month, the river will likely freeze throughout Shandong, officials with the provincial bureau predicted.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2003)