South China shivers through cold snap

While many Cantonese rushed out to enjoy the city's first snowfall in more than six decades, Luo Yangkun was accompanied by his daughter-in-law to visit the Guangzhou Grandbuy Department Store on Sunday.

The 65-year-old senior resident purchased a heater and a pair of cotton trousers at the store.

"I'm not taking a bath without heat," Luo said.

"Unlike many northern Chinese cities that are heated, the temperature indoors is as cold as the outside in Guangzhou," Luo told China Daily on Monday.

"It is only the young people who go out when it snows. When I visited the department store, I still felt very cold even with all my winter clothes on," he said.

Chen Weiying, a housewife in Guangzhou's Yuexiu district, said she didn't dare go out because of the extremely cold weather on Sunday.

"I have to use electric blanket when I go to bed at night," she said.

According to the city's Teemall Shopping Center, sales of heater, down garment, woolen sweaters, quilts and related products doubled in the past three days.

Sales of similar products in the Guangzhou Grandbuy Department Store also witnessed big growth over the weekend.

The Guangzhou meteorological department said the cold weather and rainfall would continue this week after the city saw its first snow with temperatures dropping to below zero Celsius on Sunday.

Relevant departments have urged locals to take effective measures to fight the cold and prevent them from getting sick.

All the shelters in Guangzhou have been open to those in need since Sunday.

In the Tianhe rescue center alone, an average of more than 100 people arrived to seek help since the beginning of year, up 40 percent from the same period last year, said Ma Yingzhi, office director of Guangzhou rescue management center.

More than 50 flights arriving and leaving Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport had been canceled or delayed by Monday noon.

According to the Guangzhou Bureau of Agriculture, 52 hectares of fruits, 50 hectares of vegetables and 21 hectares of potatoes have been affected by the disaster in Zengcheng district alone. Another 230 hectares of vegetables in Huadu and 1.6 hectares of sugar cane in Baiyun were also affected.