Post-festival transport will face more challenges as fog is lingered Sunday, the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday, and rain and snow are expected to lash parts of the country in the coming three days, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Sunday.

Local meteorological departments in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Liaoning issued heavy fog warnings this morning.

The NMC forecast fog and haze in parts of Liaoning, Sichuan, Guizhou, Henan, Zhejiang and other provinces. The visibility was reduced to less than 1,000 meters, and to within 200 meters in some regions.

The country is warned to brace for a new round of rain and snow in the following three days, which will hamper festival transport, the observatory added.

Light to moderate snowfall is forecast in parts of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Heilongjiang Province, Tibet and areas along the Yellow River and Huaihe Reiver.

Showers will hit regions along Yangtze River and in south China.

A cold front will sweep the northern part of the country on Sunday night and continue to Tuesday, bringing a temperature drop of 4 to 8 degrees Celsius in parts of Inner Mongolia and the northeast, and 3 to 5 degrees Celsius in north China and parts along the Yellow River and Huaihe River.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2009)