According to tradition, the first snow after the Spring Festival is believed to bring good fortune. But fierce weather and snow brought bad luck to many: traffic jams, closed roads, accidents, rising frustration and rocketing food prices.

The recent heavy snow across China has stretched cities' management capacities to the limit.

The weather forecast on Monday said the severe weather conditions will influence a vast area for the next two days, and some provinces and regions, such as Shandong, will have heavy snowstorms.

Sources with the Chinese Ministry of Communications said most highways in Anhui, Shaanxi and Henan provinces were shut. Highways in Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Tianjin will be closed or subject to transport limits in coming days.

Governments throughout the regions have implemented emergency traffic safety measures.

Beijing drew up an electronic map, which assigned snow cleaning jobs to communities. Citizens were urged to use hot lines to report areas needing snow removal.

On Monday, more than 8,000 people were mobilized to sweep snow from the streets overnight and 335 snow-clearing vehicles operated 3,700 times, using 1,741 tons of snow-melting liquid.

By 3 PM on Monday, nearly 300 flights had been delayed at the Beijing capital airport, although authorities had used 22 tons of de-icing liquid and 70 tons of snow-melting liquid.

The Beijing Transportation Administration reported more than 2,300 traffic accidents and 76 traffic jams by 4 PM on Monday—most of them due to fast driving.

As many citizens abandoned private cars and turned to public transport, Beijing extended the timetable for public buses by 10 to 20 percent.

From Sunday onward, people were returning to the capital from their family reunions, burdening public transport.

On Monday, the Beijing subway staff started working two hours earlier than usual, increasing ticket-selling spots and placing anti-skid blankets at the entrances and exits. By Monday evening, the subway system was running 25 extra trains to meet the travel surge.

Aside from traffic pressures, Beijingers also faced the rising price of vegetables due to heavy snow.

A survey in several supermarkets showed that the price for vegetables rose by an average of 1 yuan (US$0.12).

Grocer Wu Zhiguang said certain vegetables from South China, such as cauliflower and cucumbers, showed the greatest increases since they were used up during Spring Festival. Heavy snow disrupted transport.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2006)