A giant panda at the Beijing Zoo is seen happily playing in the snow after the first snowfall in Beijing on December 11, 2023. As a cold wave swept through northern China, the capital Beijing welcomed its first snow of the winter on Sunday evening. Photo: Chen Tao/GT

A new strong cold spell is hitting large parts of China starting Wednesday, causing temperatures to drop by 8 to 14 degrees Celsius, with the land swaths in northern China and between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River well below freezing or nearing their record lows. 

China's Central Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow alert - the second highest in China's four-tier warning system - for a blizzard early Wednesday, while it renewed yellow alerts for a severe cold wave and freezing weather, from Wednesday to Friday.

The cold wave is expected to bring heavy snow or rain to most parts of the country. 

In Beijing, the local meteorological authority issued orange warning for a snowstorm, cancelling some trains and calling for online home-learning for primary, secondary and kindergarten students.

As of 9 am on Wednesday, the Beijing West Railway Station and the Beijing South Railway Station cancelled more than 70 trains, under the impact of a heavy snowfall, which may cause future delays and cancellations, and the stations started to refund for cancelled train runs, according to the Weibo accounts of the two stations.

Facing the snowy weather, traffic police in Beijing set up an interim command center to deal with emergencies. There were more policemen seen on the streets guiding traffic in key crossroads, bridges, intersections and steep slopes.

Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) was on high alert for the heavy snowfall, as it worked with the Air Traffic Management Bureau and other departments to coordinate an orderly release of flights, and maintaining the overall operation of the airport.

BCIA plans to operate 681 flights on Wednesday, carrying about 80,000 passengers. As of 10 am, the airport operated 189 flights and de-iced 68 departing planes, according to the airport's Weibo account. 

Beijing Daxing International Airport (BDIA) also announced to set a command center for snow removal and security reinforcement, conducting aircraft de-icing and taking other measures to increase operational efficiency, according to its Weibo account.

The Beijing Municipal Education Commission issued a notice on Tuesday night to all primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and secondary vocational schools in the city, requesting schools to conduct online remote-learning for students on Wednesday. The time for classes to return to normal will be announced later.

The Beijing city government was prepared for the heavy snowfall on Wednesday, with more than 73,000 personnel and 7,441 de-icing vehicles on standby for snow removal from the streets. It also requested heating companies to ensure home temperatures.