While southern China was soaked by excessive rainfall, the north was hit by the first round of sweltering summer heat.

Scorching weather is predicted for the next two days across the mid-south parts of north China, areas between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers, regions between the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers, the Hanshui River basin, most of northwest China's Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang.

Temperatures may be hot today, the year's longest day, and then slightly drop to between 35 C and 37 C.

Dazzling sunshine is expected to lead to temperatures of 38 C to 39 C in Beijing and Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province and 40 C to 42 C in parts of central China's Henan Province and northwest China's Xinjiang, according to a warning issued yesterday by the State Meteorological Observatory.

This week, thunder, hailstorms and showers are likely to strike more areas along with the heatwave. Showers may interrupt soaring temperatures for a while, the observatory warned.

In contrast, the south will be pounded again by massive downpours this week with rainfall averaging between 60 and 120 millimeters and reaching a possible maximum of 150 to 200 millimeters, said Xiao Ziniu, deputy director of the China Meteorological Centre.

"Total rainfall throughout south China this week will be up 40 percent on a normal year," he said.

Over the weekend, torrential rain caused serious flooding on some local rivers in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, cut off sections of railways and suspended tourism as water levels exceeded their warning marks, according to local reports reaching Beijing yesterday.

In the north by yesterday, high temperature regions were reported to range from Xinjiang, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan to parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Chongqing.

In Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, the price of fresh flowers soared by 30 percent following the hot weather.

In Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, the mercury stood at an average of 37 C for seven consecutive days by yesterday, with many locals flocking to swimming pools to cool themselves down.

In Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, a record 38.3 C was recorded yesterday. Today, the temperature is likely to soar to 40 C, local weathermen said.

They reminded people, particularly construction workers, to take precautionary measures to prevent sunstroke and burns.

In Bengbu, a city along the Huaihe River in east China's Anhui Province, the temperature has been above 35 C for four days. Many locals have been crowding inside large shopping malls equipped with powerful air conditioner systems to avoid the summer heat.

(China Daily June 21, 2005)