A police officer directs traffic on road in eastern Beijing amid snow February 6, 2006. The first snow in the year of the dog on the lunar calendar Monday morning delayed more than 200 flights and more than 40 flights were cancelled at the Beijing capital international airport. The snow also disrupted road traffic, with several expressways temporarily closed. The heavy snow affected a vast area north of the Yangtze River and caused difficulties to the post-festival road transport. [newsphoto]

    BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- As a heavy fall of snow hit Chinese capital early Monday morning, the Beijing Municipality implemented emergency measures to ensure traffic safety, according to sources with the municipal government.

    More than 335 vehicles, and 1,741 tons of snow thawing materials were put into use, 8,100 people were mobilized to clean the streets and roads, and skidproof mats were paved at the entrances of all metro stations in Beijing.

    Guo Hu, director of the municipal observatory, said that the snowfall is the most obvious one of the recent period. Meteorologists predict that the snowfall will reach medium level.

    At 9:50 a.m., Beijing observatory issued yellow alarm of snow, and at 12:30 a.m., an orange alarm was issued, indicating heavy snowfall will occur within six hours.

    By 13:00 p.m., the snowfall has reached two millimeters in downtown areas of Beijing, while in some suburban areas, the snowfall has reached 2.5 millimeters.

    Transport and tourism departments were asked to extend their working hours. Enditem