Shanghai Daily news

Traffic and road authorities in Shanghai will be doing their best today to try to minimize disruption as people returned to work after a weekend of heavy snow.

It started to snow on Saturday morning and continued throughout the weekend. It was the heaviest fall in recent years, stopping only at around dusk on both days.

Qingpu District had the deepest falls, some five centimeters, while Xujiahui area in Xuhui District had two centimeters, the most in downtown areas, said the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, which issued a yellow road-freeze alert.

While many city residents reveled in walking in a winter wonderland, the snow had serious consequences for the already overtaxed transport system as the Spring Festival holiday rush continued.

Several highways linking Shanghai and neighboring provinces were closed yesterday morning due to heavy snow. Some re-opened by noon, but the Shanghai-Nanjing Highway remained closed.

In the city, the Middle Ring Road was closed in the early hours but re-opened at 8:30am yesterday.

Snow also covered the North-South Elevated Road, Yan'an Road Elevated Road, Nanpu Bridge, Yangpu Bridge and other major thoroughfares. Emergency teams used 70 tons of salt and other chemicals to clear the snow away.

The railway reported business as usual with only a few delays.

At Hongqiao airport, flights to Hunan Province were affected as the airport in Changsha, Hunan's provincial capital, was closed for a time during the weekend, causing many cancellations and delays.

More road accidents were reported yesterday than usual for a Sunday. At around 10am, two trucks, one van and six cars were involved in a pile-up on Luoshan Road in Pudong New Area. One driver was hurt.

The snow caused a warehouse roof to collapse in Zhabei District, injuring two workers.

The city's power authorities said they had to ration electricity in some parts of the city for the first time in winter in recent years, as the power network was overloaded.