Heavy snow began to fall in most of central, eastern and northern China on Tuesday, the day of the winter solstice.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on Tuesday that central, eastern and northern China, influenced by both cold and warm air currents, will see plenty of white stuff during the next few days.

From Tuesday to Thursday, light snow, moderate snow or sleet will fall on southwest China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, north and northwest China, the Hanjiang River Valley in central China, the Yellow and Huaihe river valleys and the Yangtze and Huaihe river valleys.

Heavy snowfall is expected in the Tibet Autonomous Region, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, north China's Shanxi and Hebei provinces, east China's Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and central China's Henan and Hubei provinces.

From Tuesday to Saturday, rain will fall on most of south China and the easternmost portion of the southwest, ranging from drizzle to moderate rain and possibly sleet. Some sections of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will have heavy rain.

While the precipitation may bring some traffic troubles to north China and the Yellow and Huaihe river valleys, it will help alleviate the drought in these regions, according to the NMC's Yang Keming.

However, he indicated that south China is not likely to receive enough rainfall to relieve the drought that has plagued it throughout the autumn.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2004)