Rare Snow Falls on Southwest China's "Spring City" ����Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, saw a rare heavy snowfall January 11 that soon coated this renowned "Spring City" in white. ����Excited local residents flocked out amid the large snowflakes to enjoy the rare scene of snow-covered roads and buildings, while joyful children cheered and played in the streets, braving the zero degrees Celsius temperature. ����"This is the largest snowfall in Kunming since 1983, and there are only seven or eight snowfalls in the city's historical records," said an official with the local meteorological bureau. ����The snowfall began at 8 pm on Sunday evening, beginning as sleet. Big flakes started to fall at 5 am January 11 and hadn't stopped by press time. Local weather reports said that by eight o'clock yesterday morning, total precipitation in the Kunming region had exceeded 15.1 millimeters. ����As the snow piled up to three centimeters on the runways and the whirling flakes reduced the visibility to a dangerous level, the Kunming Airport had to cancel 22 domestic flights and ask 9 flights due at Kunming before 8 am January 11 to land at other airports. ����Airport authorities said there are now some 900 domestic and foreign passengers stranded at the airport. ����However, traffic police said the snowfall caused little trouble for urban traffic, with no reports of traffic jams or accidents. ����Kunming has earned the reputation as China's "Spring City" with its year-round mild climate and an average annual temperature of 14.5 degrees Celsius. ����Local meteorologists believe that the snowfall was mainly caused by the convergence of a cold air current from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and a warm and damp air current from the Bay of Bengal. ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� HomeNews 1999-01-12 Page4 Full Story in Chinese