Beijing suspends operations in mountainous scenic areas after heavy blizzard

Beijing: Beijing, which has been experiencing heavy snow for the past few days, has suspended tourism operations in mountainous areas, in addition to outdoor large-scale amusement facilities in non-mountainous scenic areas, official media reported on Thursday.

The weather bureau has issued an orange alert as the capital city of over 21 million people continues to be under a thick blanket of snow from Tuesday.

According to the weather forecast, the city is expected to see heavy snow till Friday with snowfall in multiple areas of Beijing exceeding 10 millimetres.

In response, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued an urgent notice stating that mountainous scenic areas would suspend operations, as would outdoor large-scale amusement facilities in non-mountainous scenic areas.

Besides, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission announced that all primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and secondary vocational schools in the city temporarily moved to online classes.

Additionally, the Beijing Emergency Management Bureau has urged citizens to use public transportation and avoid unnecessary trips to the mountains, as well as stay away from areas with accumulated snow, such as walls, old trees and signboards, state-run Global Times newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, a cold wave is expected to sweep the Chinese capital on Friday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.