The first large scale of snow for this year enveloped many parts of northern China, bringing both joy and inconvenience to people in the region.

 

The biggest blizzards for 20 years hit the southern part of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region recently.

 

The snow lay 30-centimeter deep on roofs, damaging residential houses and vegetable greenhouses. Nearly 100 hectares of Chinese cabbages were attacked by frost, said the local government source.

 

In some parts of Xinjiang, snow stood 70 centimeters deep, the source said.

 

The blizzards brought vehicles to a standstill, and local government workers and soldiers are carrying out rescue operations.

 

So far, no casualties have been reported.

 

Meanwhile, warm and humid air brought the winter's first light snow to Beijing in the early hours of Saturday morning.

 

By 8 AM Saturday, three millimeters of snow had fallen in Miyun County in the northeast of the Chinese capital, according to the Chinese Central Meteorological Station.

 

The station said the maximum temperature in Beijing was only four Celsius degrees on Saturday, with overnight temperatures below zero.

 

The station forecast a high of five and a low of zero for the capital on Sunday.

 

City roads were unaffected, said the municipal traffic control bureau. Vehicle speeds are above 20 kilometers per hour on all the roads.

 

But more than 400 traffic policemen were mobilized on Beijing's roads in case of emergency.

 

Snowy weather was also seen in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. But the snow quickly melted.

 

The snow will be a boon for thirsty crops that have been suffering from a long drought, said Kang Ling, vice head of the Inner Mongolia Observatory.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2006)