Shops in Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden use misty spray heat prevention devices on July 14, 2022. Shanghai has issued its highest alert for extreme heat for the third time this summer as sweltering temperatures repeatedly tested records this week.Photo: Xinhua

Blistering heatwaves returned to China with the hot weather forecast to last for nearly 10 days in many regions and the temperature in some regions hits record high.

The country's national observatory on Saturday continued to issue a yellow alert for high temperatures as intense heatwaves linger in many regions of the country.

During daylight hours on Saturday, temperatures in some regions of Xinjiang and East China's Zhejiang and Fujian provinces have surpassed 40 degrees Celsius, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

On Saturday noon, Xinjiang region raised high temperature alert from orange to red, the highest in China's four-tier weather warning system for extreme heat. At around 4 pm Saturday, the temperature in Turpan, Xinjiang reached 43.2 degrees Celsius, according to real time data released by the NMC. It reminds local people of sunstroke prevention and the risk of ice melting.

By around 2 pm, the temperature at Wenzhou national meteorological station in East China's Zhejiang Province reached 41.8 degrees Celsius, breaking the station's record of 41.7 degrees Celsius set on July 15, 2003, local media reported. Jin'an national meteorological station in Fujian Province also witnessed record temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday. 

The latest heatwave is expected to be similar to the one during July 5-17 in terms of scope, but more regions could be hit by temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher and more people will be impacted, said Chief Forecaster at the NMC Fu Jiaolan, according to a report published on the website of the China Meteorological Administration on Friday.

Photo: Li Hao/GT

She predicted that extreme hot weather would last about seven to nine days in regions including areas to the south of the Yangtze River, parts of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. During the period, the temperatures in areas including Jiangsu, Shanghai and Xinjiang may approach or hit record highs.

To avoid the summer heat, Chinese tourists are rushing to take holidays in Southwest China. According to data domestic travel platform Qunar sent to the Global Times on Saturday, air ticket bookings to Southwest China's Yunnan Province for the summer holiday has surpassed the same period in 2019, while bookings for hotels in the province since July grew nearly 50 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

In addition, many tourists flock to indoor skiing venues to keep cool. Qunar data showed that the number of searches for indoor skiing on the platform jumped 470 percent month-on-month as of Thursday, and bookings for relevant products increased by 268 percent month-on-month.

As the hot weather hits the Yangtze River Delta region - an important industrial and manufacturing hub in China - there are concerns that power cuts may take place due to surging electricity demand.

Yuan Ye, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, recently led a group to Southwest China's Guizhou Province to guide stet-owned enterprises to raise coal storage to ensure power supply for summer peak season and prevent power cut.

Global Times