A Siberian cold front engulfed northern and eastern China on Monday, dumping mounds of snow and closing down airports and highways, officials and state press said.
Tianjin, a city of 9.3 million people an hour's drive from Beijing, was experiencing its worst snowfall in half a century, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Binhai International Airport near Tianjin cancelled all flights Sunday and early Monday after heavy snows blanketed the region, the local government said on its website.
Flights resumed Monday afternoon once inspectors declared the runway safe for take-off and landing.
Over 100 flights to and from the city were cancelled, with many passengers forced to take trains to Beijing where they boarded planes for onward destinations, the government said.
Highways leading into the port city from Hebei province to the west and Shandong province to the south were also closed due to the heavy snows, according to China News Service.
Besides Binhai airport, flights were also cancelled at airports in the Shandong cities of Qingdao and Yantai, it said.
Temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in Hebei and the northern region of Inner Mongolia, according to state media.
The cold front is expected to move south and the meteorological bureau warned citizens to brace for cold and for farmers to protect crops and livestock.
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