A severe cold wave with heavy snowfall is hitting China this week. Even Guangdong province in the south has seen rare snowfall, while cities in the north of the country are suffering from low temperatures near record levels. It was snowing on a mountaintop in Guangzhou, where it is usually not very cold in winter. The snow also fell in Shanghai and caused disruption in Beijing. The cold is worsening the situation in the earthquakehit Gansu province, where more than a hundred people have died. Rescue teams work in temperatures as cold as 10°C. The cold is extreme in parts of the country, recording historic and recordbreaking lows, such as in Yunzhou, where 33.2°C was recorded.
Large amounts of snow brought joy to tourists visiting Hengshan Mountain in Hengyang, Hunan Province, central China | CAO ZHENGPING/XINHUA/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
Tourists enjoy the snowcovered scenery at a scenic viewpoint of Hengshan Mountain in Hengyang, central China's Hunan Province CAO ZHENGPING/XINHUA/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
Aerial photo shows the landscape of the snowcovered fishing village of Liandao in Lianyungang, China, December 19 | CFOTO/NURPHOTO/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGIA
People enjoy heavy snowfall on a street in Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, China on December 18 CFOTO/NURPHOTO/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGIA
Historic Great Wall of China in Badaling, Beijing, covered in snow after heavy snowfall in the Chinese capital region | LIU XIANGUO/IMAGE CHINA/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGIA
Aerial view of the snowcovered section of the Great Wall of China in Shuiguan, north of Beijing, after an overnight snowfall | GREG BAKER/AFP//METSUL METEOROLOGIA
Wind turbines on snowcovered hills during the severe cold snap in Zhangye, China, on December 15 | COSTPHOTO/NURPHOTO/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGIA