China braces for rain, snow, wind amid cold snap

China is preparing for strong rains, winds, and snowfall as a cold wave grips the country, causing a sharp drop in temperature.

The National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for snowstorms on Monday, with blizzards expected to hit parts of the country's northeast. Parts of Liaoning will see 20-25 millimeters of snow during the period.

China's meteorological administration activated a Level IV emergency response for possible blizzards.

The National Meteorological Center also renewed a yellow alert for a cold wave and a blue alert for wind on Monday, as parts of the country will see temperatures plunge while experiencing strong winds.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

The center says the cold weather will move into southern China in the next two days.

"The cold wave will affect a wide area of China, causing strong winds, intense rain and snow, and a significant temperature drop. Over the next 48 hours, the cold air will continue to move southward, bringing light to moderate rain to areas south of the Yangtze River, including Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi, with some heavy rainfall forecast. Hainan Island will also experience heavy rain. After the cold wave, the country's temperatures will approach the historical average or be slightly lower by one to two degrees Celsius. This cooler trend is expected to remain until the beginning of December, around December 3rd or 4th,” said Dong Quan, chief forecaster of the National Meteorological Center.

Provinces and regions in China have taken appropriate measures as the cold weather sweeps through.

Many cities in east China's Shandong Province have seen heavy rain since Sunday morning. The rainfall has made roads slippery, posing risks to pedestrians and forcing drivers to take extra precaution. To deal with this, local traffic police have arrived at their posts ahead of the morning rush hour to guide and manage the traffic.

Heavy snow has blanketed parts of Gansu in northwest China, putting pressure on urban transportation. Many bus lines have been suspended, and temporary control measures have been imposed on highways.

In Aksay County in Jiuquan in Gansu Province, dozens of trucks have been stranded on icy roads. The local transportation department has been working systematically to clear the roads. Meanwhile, the local agricultural department has issued timely weather updates, organized teams to remove snow from greenhouse roofs, and provided heating equipment to protect crops.

In some cities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, snow removal crews and snowplows have been deployed to clear roads covered by snow, while the local government has urged herders to prepare adequate food for their livestock in advance. Livestock shelters have been reinforced to protect animals from strong winds, low temperatures, and heavy snowfall.

Agricultural technicians have alerted farmers to the hidden hazards of greenhouses before snowy weather moves in, advising them to reinforce the structures to ensure the normal growth and stable supply of vegetables. Heating service providers in the region have been conducting regular inspections of equipment to guarantee the heating supply.

China braces for rain, snow, wind amid cold snap

Artists have reimagined ancient themes through a modern lens at the 60th Venice Biennale China National Pavilion Exhibition, now underway in Shanghai.

The main feature of the exhibition is a fully immersive project by artist Che Jianquan, who has placed consecutive screens placed side by side to present his two-decade-long documentation of the same pavilion since 2003.

Through his lens, the artist captures the pavilion, as it emerges and disappears amidst mist and clouds, evoking the aesthetic of misty landscapes in traditional Chinese ink paintings.

"At the beginning, I wanted to use painting to document my feeling, but later I realized that painting was somewhat powerless. So, starting in 2003, I began using the earliest video equipment to start recording. What I care about more is a place—a very small location—and the unique connection it has within that field to history and to the culture of that region. I think this is something I hope to achieve: through a seemingly ordinary scene, to uncover the stories behind it, as well as its possible influence on both the past era and the present," said Chen.

Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is one of the premier events in the global art world. This year, the China National Pavilion Exhibition, under the theme "Atlas: Harmony in Diversity," presents not only the documentary archives of 100 Chinese paintings held overseas, but also seven contemporary artworks created by seven Chinese artists exploring themes, such as architecture, landscapes, figures, flora and fauna.

"The core of the Venice Biennale is contemporary art, reflecting the spirit of the present era—yet the present and history cannot be separated. This exhibition is rooted in the tradition of Chinese painting across dynasties, drawing from over 20,000 individual works that took us twenty years to collect globally," said Wang Xiaosong, an artist and the curator of the exhibition.

"Notably, we discovered that more than 3,000 of these paintings had been lost overseas, which we spent two decades retrieving through digital tools. This is how we engage with traditional art: through each artist's reflection and a new understanding of the relationship between the ancients, the present, and the future," he added.

Wang drew special attention to a piece by the modern artist Qiu Zhenzhong, who he said merges the art of Chinese gardens with calligraphy using traditional methods to showcase contemporary issues such as environmental and ecological change.

"It's like a dialogue with nature," Wang said.

The exhibition in Shanghai is the final stop of the national tour, following the legs in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, and will run until May 31.

Exhibition in Shanghai bridges contemporary art with centuries of Chinese artistic tradition