Thick fog and heavy snow blanketed areas of north China Tuesday,
forcing sections of several expressways to close temporarily.
All 12 expressways in Liaoning Province were closed after snow
began to fall Monday.
Cars snarled the congested roads after snow stuck to the ground
and made the driving difficult in Shenyang, capital of
Liaoning.
"It took me three times longer than usual to reach my office,"
said a man driving to work.
Many people who usually travel by car turned to public transport
after they woke to find snowfall had whitened the city, making it
hard to find an unoccupied taxi in rush hour, a rare scenario in
the city.
The local Shenyang Central Meteorological Observatory has issued
four straight snowstorm warning signals.
Visibility on roads was reduced to less than 500 meters in most
of Hebei Province, which has been shrouded in thick fog since
Monday. Thick fog forced the closure of a number of expressways in
the province.
It is expected that most parts of Hebei will be affected in the
next two to three days.
East China's Shandong province and southern Guangdong province
also reported thick fog Tuesday, causing traffic jams on major
roads.
(Xinhua News Agency, December 11, 2007)