Residents walk in snow in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, on March 4, 2007. The strongest snowstorm in 56 years hit Liaoning, left at least one person dead and seven injured and caused air and highway traffic disturbed. (Xinhua Photo)Photo Gallery>>>

    Shenyang, a city of more than 7 million people, barred most vehicles from the roads on Monday except buses, ambulances and snow ploughs to ensure the snow is cleared away.

    Most citizens were told to stay home. Classes will be suspended for a second day on Tuesday for all the 900,000 primary and middle school students in Shenyang to allow snow clearing work to proceed.

    Meanwhile, many expressways in Liaoning were still closed on Monday.

    Neighboring Jilin province reported 17.6 mm of rain and snow by 2:00 a.m. Monday and residents were bracing for Monday night temperatures of minus 18 to minus 21. At least four cities have told students to stay home.

    "I took a bus ride to Changchun on Sunday night. With the expressway closed and secondary roads blocked by snow drifts, the trip took more than five hours," said Yan Guangxin from Panshi city which is normally two hours away from Changchun, capital of neighboring Jilin Province.

    An ambulance that was rushing an unconscious 79-year-old to hospital in Changchun was stranded in the blizzard for six hours until 5:00 a.m. Monday. "Fortunately the patient received treatment on the way and is in a stable condition now," said Wang Dongxia, a doctor at the city's first-aid center.

    In Heilongjiang province further north, precipitation reached the highest level in 56 years with 49 mm of snow in Dongning, 46 mm along the Suifen River and 41 mm in Jixi.

    The blizzard continued in most parts of the province on Monday and is expected to weaken in the afternoon, said Gao Yuzhong, head of the provincial meteorological bureau.

    Nearly 30,000 passengers were stranded in railway stations in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, or on trains or buses, provincial authorities said.

    Twenty-four trains in Harbin were delayed because of the snow. But flights at Harbin Airport were not affected.

    All primary and middle school students were told to stay home in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang. The city experienced 37 mm of snowfall.

    Beijing also experienced rain and snow over the weekend and the temperature dropped to one degree Celsius.

    An expressway connecting the Chinese capital with Lhasa in southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region remained closed on Monday. The Inner Mongolian section of the expressway witnessed 28 accidents on Saturday, involving 44 vehicles, which left three people dead and 21 injured.

    The central meteorological observatory described the snow and rain as "unusual" for this time of the year and having hit most parts of the northeast, northwest and north China. The observatory has forecast more rain in some northern Chinese cities on Monday and Tuesday.

    In an interview with Xinhua on Monday, a spokesman of the Ministry of Railways said the snowstorm had delayed 150 passenger trains, including trains between Harbin and Dalian, Beijing and Qinhuangdao, and Qinhuangdao and Shenyang.

    Most trains were disrupted by snow on the track, sometimes piled two meters high, he said.

    The railway authority is trying to resume traffic within 48 hours to meet the growing demand from holiday makers who need to return to work after Sunday's Lantern Festival, traditionally considered the end of the Chinese New Year holiday.

    Meteorologists said the rain and snow, the heaviest this winter, would help alleviate a severe drought that had caused a drinking water shortage for nearly 5 million people and more than 2.5 million head of livestock nationwide.

    Shandong Province, the second most populous region in China, received an average 41 mm of rain over the weekend, which eased the drought that has plagued the province since September, according to the provincial water resources department.

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