China's northeastern city of Dalian on Sunday had heaviest snow in the corresponding time in the past 54 years, and primary and middle schools will be closed on Monday, according to an official order.

The heavy snow stopped at around 6:00 PM Sunday after lingering for 41 hours in this port city of Liaoning Province. As of 2:00 PM Sunday, the downtown area was enveloped in 28-cm-deep snow.

The Municipal Education Bureau issued an emergency circular on Sunday ordering primary and middle schools to close for one day on Monday for the safety of students.

The snow started in the early morning of Saturday. At the city's Zhoushuizi International Airport, 123 flights were frustrated by the big snow, stranding some 4,000 passengers. The first flight took off at 6:54 PM Sunday after the airport resumed air traffic.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)