They may be just flurries or gather in banks, but parts of North China including Beijing, Northeast China and East China's Shandong Peninsula over the weekend will see snow.

Residents in Beijing may experience the coldest day of this winter as temperatures are likely to plummet as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius.

Government departments have prepared for possible traffic jams caused by sleet or snowfall, with workers, vehicles, and snow-melting materials on standby.

Most of the country will experience shivering days in the weeks to come, as a strong cold front pushed into the eastern parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Gansu corridor along the Yellow River in Northwest China, a weather official said on Friday.

Before Monday, chilly winds will blow through the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its neighboring areas causing temperatures to plummet dramatically, said Wang Bangzhong, deputy director of the forecasting service under the China Meteorological Administration.

(China Daily December 3, 2005)