China on blue alert for cold wave

BEIJING - China's weather observatory issued a blue alert on Monday for a cold wave that will sweep central and east China in the coming two days.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast the cold wave will bring a sharp temperature drop up to 10 degrees Celsius and heavy wind on Tuesday and Wednesday to Jilin and Liaoning provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Heavy snow will freeze Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Shandong provinces and some of the region will see blizzards, said the NMC.

The NMC advised residents to stay indoors and asked local authorities to brace for the heavy snow.

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