Beijing Late Autumn Leaves hit by Early Winter Snowfall

Today (Sunday) Beijing has been hit by the early winter snowfall and sleet after yesterday’s fog and rain caused by a cold front in northern China. It is quite rare in Beijing to be lashed with freezing rain and snowfall three days before the coming of Li Dong (Winter begins), the 19th solar term of the 24 solar terms according to Chinese lunar calendar.

Fortunately from last Thursday Beijing local residents have been bombarded by text messages, news online and TV weather forecasts by China’s National Meteorological Center which has issued an orange alert, predicting that heavy snow would hit in the northern provinces surrounding Beijing through Tuesday. To fight the strong cold, Beijing has turned on the city’s public heating starting from last Thursday 15 days ahead of the official November 15 start date.

At 8:00am I get up with a pleasant surprise at the snow flakes blanketing the roofs and gardens here and there in our residential area. Fascinated by the scene of “autumn leaves meeting early snowfall”, after simple breakfast, I put on an extra layer of clothes and leave my heated flat for the Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics Park, not far from my residential area.

Walk slowly on the street covered by the melted snowfall filled with rain water. Then Cross over a flyover where a snow clearing worker is clearing the snow from the flyover. The government said that it is well prepared to fight the unusual early snowfall. It is reported that there are 5,776 snow clearing devices on standby to clear the streets, and the city has prepared 22,000 tons of snow-melting agent.

This section of the city wall is the only remaining city wall relics built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Beijing. The remnant city wall is about 1.5km in length, which has been transformed into a public park.

The Arrow Tower in the eastern tip of the wall is hidden behind the atumn leaves with the early winter snow on the ground. The tower was first built 1436, the largest of its kind existent in China, now a key historical and cultural site under state protection.