The first major snowfall brought by the coldest temperatures so far this year disrupted the plans of thousands of travelers in north China on Thursday.

Eight expressways were closed and traffic on another six was halted in the northeastern Liaoning Province after heavy snow began falling on Wednesday night, said a provincial government spokesman.

The Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, the provincial capital, closed for at least five hours on Thursday morning. Flights resumed at 11:00 AM after staff finished clearing the snow on the runway, but almost 1,000 passengers were still stranded at 3:00 PM.

More than 30 flights were delayed and the backlog would not be cleared until the evening, said an airport spokesman.

The cold wave has lowered temperatures by 8 to 10 degrees Celsius in China's most northern province of Heilongjiang. They plunged to minus 27 Celsius degrees in Harbin, the provincial capital, according to Heilongjiang Meteorological Station.

The freezing temperatures are forecast to move south across much of China, and the Central Meteorological Station (CMS) on Wednesday issued an orange cold wave alert, the second most critical level after red.

The orange alert means temperatures are expected to drop by 12 degrees Celsius within 24 hours to below zero. It requires local governments prepare for potential emergencies, including failures in heating and water supplies or traffic blocks, according to the CMS.

It also warns farmers to take precautions to prevent crop and stock losses.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2009)