Cold wave grips northern China, south bracing for big chill

Two winter swimmers move chunks of ice to create an area for swimming at a lake in Shenyang, in China's northeastern Liaoning province.- AFP

BEIJING: Cold weather gripped large swathes of China on Thursday (Dec 14), with sharp falls in temperature expected over the next two days, particularly in the south, forecasters said, as the weather proves unusually frigid for December.

The cold snap is moving from several northern provinces hit by blizzards to central and southern areas such as the province of Guizhou, and pushing deep into the lower reaches of the Yangtze River delta.