The icebound section at the lower reaches of the Yellow River, China's second longest, has extended to 56.3 km as of Monday amid an abrupt temperature drop in eastern Shandong Province, where the river empties into the Bohai Sea.

 

A 1,500-meter section of the lower reaches of the watercourse in China froze Thursday due to a frost that hit the province last week, Dai Mingqian, an official with the provincial Yellow River water conservancy authority said.

 

When the Yellow River freezes, which usually lasts until early spring, water accumulates upstream, leading to higher water levels in parts of the river and even to floods.

 

River freezing can pose a hazard to the safety of embankments along some narrow and winding sections, where a large amount of ice always pile up.

 

The Yellow River, popularly known as China's mother river, starts in Qinghai Province in the northwest and flows through Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan, before passing through Shandong and emptying into the Bohai Sea.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2006)