Chinese New Year Approaching: Mainland China Braces for Blizzard and Earthquake

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, mainland China experienced earthquakes in three provinces and heavy snowfall in multiple provinces, leading to road closures and flight cancellations. Additionally, the rampant outbreak of the epidemic in mainland China has made the New Year’s epidemic prevention situation even more challenging due to the Chinese Communist Party’s downplaying and cover-ups.

President Xi Jinping visited and offered condolences to the Northern Theater Command on January 24, emphasizing the need to strengthen military readiness during the Lunar New Year period and to promptly and effectively deal with various potential emergencies. Xi Jinping’s remarks were interpreted by some as a sign that he foresaw significant events happening during the upcoming New Year.

Shortly after Xi Jinping made his remarks, the China Earthquake Network Center announced earthquakes in three locations in Sichuan on January 25: a 3.2-magnitude earthquake in Kangding City, a 4.1-magnitude earthquake in Jinyan County, and a 3.4-magnitude earthquake in Emeishan City. These earthquakes, occurring just as China entered the new year of 2025, were among ten provinces that experienced seismic activities, with three provinces having earthquakes on the same day back on January 12, leading to concerns among the public about the possibility of larger earthquakes.

The Central Meteorological Observatory warned on January 26 that a cold wave would continue to affect the eastern regions of China, bringing strong winds and significant temperature drops, with heavy snow expected in Liaoning, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Shandong, and other areas. The Observatory issued blue alerts for cold waves, strong winds, and blizzards.

By that evening, the blizzard warnings had been upgraded to yellow alerts. Forecasts indicated that from 8:00 p.m. on January 26 to 8:00 p.m. on January 27, parts of southeast Liaoning could experience heavy snowfall (20-25 millimeters), resulting in snow accumulation of 5-10 centimeters, with some areas receiving over 15 centimeters of snow.

The heavy snowfall, particularly in Henan, severely impacted transportation. Some roads in cities such as Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Jiyuan, Nanyang, and Xuchang were closed to all vehicles, while in Kaifeng and Zhoukou, certain road sections were off-limits to vehicles carrying dangerous goods, with restrictions even placed on buses carrying more than nine passengers.

Moreover, flights were significantly delayed or canceled as airports in cities like Shenyang and Harbin announced temporary closures or flight schedule adjustments due to snowfall and icy runways.

Additionally, the supply of daily necessities was affected by the extreme weather conditions. Difficulty in transporting goods due to snow-covered roads resulted in reduced availability of vegetables, leading to price increases in some markets. In Changchun, spinach prices reached nearly 10 yuan per kilogram. In Newmin City, a vegetable cultivation hub in Shenyang, some greenhouses collapsed under the weight of the snow.

According to a well-known meteorology enthusiast on the Chinese internet, the successive cold waves hitting China are pulling moisture from all four major oceans into the country. The southwest region, particularly parts of Sichuan, Guizhou, and northern Yunnan, is predicted to be a focal point for snowfall between January 25 and 28. The expert warned that western cold waves might break through the barriers of the Wumeng Mountains into the Yun-Gui Plateau, combining with water vapor from the Indian Ocean to create complex weather conditions, including freezing rain. When the cold air settles in, significant snowfall could be expected in eastern parts of the Yun-Gui Plateau, including Kunming.

The expert also mentioned another snowfall center in the northeast region where cold waves interacting with Pacific water vapor are likely to bring continuous moderate to heavy snowfall and localized blizzards from January 27 to 30.

Meanwhile, the epidemic situation persistently escalated across China during the Chinese New Year period. Large hospitals with fever clinics, pediatric emergency departments, and infusion areas were overcrowded. Reports on child fatalities due to the epidemic circulated online.

A Chinese doctor on social media expressed that the current epidemic felt almost as challenging as the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2022. Many patients described their suffering post-infection, while some complained about difficulties in identifying the specific viruses causing adult and child illnesses, with doctors resorting to treating all cases as H1N1 influenza.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that the current wave of the epidemic sees escalations in new cases of COVID-19 and pneumonia infections.

Furthermore, while the Chinese authorities have not publicly disclosed the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in mainland China, they have secretly conducted emergency drills for handling H5N1 outbreaks and established avian flu monitoring stations in communities.

In summary, as China faces a confluence of natural disasters, epidemic challenges, and public health concerns, the country is grappling with a complex and demanding start to the New Year of 2025.