Students in N China to get early winter break

Students at Yakeshi Fourth Primary School in Hulunbuir, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, are dismissed from school on Dec 7, 2011. Due to the cold weather, the education authority in Hulunbuir declared an earlier-than-usual winter holiday for primary and secondary school students in its jurisdiction. The two-month holiday will be Jan 1 to March 1, 2012. The break usually doesn't start until the middle of January. Winter temperatures in Hulunbuir can drop to as low as 40 degrees below zero Celsius. [Photo/CFP]