Cold air to chill China

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Friday forecast that a fresh wave of cold air will sweep across many parts of the country in the coming days, bringing temperature drops, rain and snow.

Most parts of China's central and eastern regions will see temperature declines between 4 to 8 degrees Celsius from Saturday to Monday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The chill will be accompanied by rain and snow in those regions, and the temperature in some places will drop by as much as 10 degrees.

Meanwhile, the regions along the Yellow and Huai rivers, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, south and southwestern China areas will embrace moderate precipitation and regions south of the Yangtze River will be hit by heavy rainfall. As for the eastern part of northwestern China and northern parts of China, they can expect snow and even blizzards in the next few days.

Although a yellow alert for thick fog was cancelled on Friday, the center warned that fog could linger around in the morning in areas of northern, eastern and southern China.