A 200 km-long section of the Yellow River running through north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region froze Monday after a drastic temperature drop.

The frozen section extended to over 200 km on the 5,464-km river, the second longest in China by Monday afternoon. The surface of the river near Baotou City began to freeze Sunday, which was five days late compared with the freezing time last year, according to the Regional Flood Control Headquarters.

The Liujiaxia Hydropower Station on the upstream of the river has slowed the discharging speed to under 500 cubic meters per second in flood control on the icebound river.

According to the meteorological forecast, the minimum temperature in the region will remain under below 15 degree Celsius until Dec. 10, which will be conducive to rapid river freezing without causing regional flooding.

The Yellow River originates in Qinghai Province and flows east through Gansu, Ningxia,Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong, and empties into the Bohai Sea.

It runs in the Inner Mongolia region for 800 km.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2005)