The Beijing News
January 29, 2008

The front page of The Beijing News concerns the heavy snow that is afflicting south and southeast China. About 78 million people in fourteen provinces are affected; 24 deaths have been reported so far, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The extreme weather presents challenges to all manner of transportation. Twentyo-four airports have been affected, and some of them have had to shut down temporarily.

The southern end of the north-south rail artery between Beijing and Guangzhou has also had to close, stranding over half a million passengers at the Guangzhou Railway Station. And more than ten thousand cars and forty thousand people are trapped on the Hunan stretch of the Beijing-Zhuhai Highway.

The front page picture shows visitors to the China Swimming Centre, dubbed the "Water Cube", which was completed on Monday. The first public competition will be held between January 31 and February 5.

Other headlines:

• Construction on a new intersection at Pingguoyuan, the west end of Subway Line 1, will start before the end of this year.
• The Shanghai Stock Index continued its fall yesterday, dropping more than 7%, the second-fastest decline on record.