Storm strands tourists at Great Wall, killing 3 (2)

The same day, authorities raised a weather alert from blue to orange, indicating the second-most severe conditions in the four-level system. The alert remained at that level until 6 pm.

Hebei province has released a regional red alert, forecasting snow in the cities of Zhangjiakou, Chengde and Baoding from late Sunday night to Monday.

Rain, sleet and snow have been forecast until Tuesday in most parts of North China, as well as regions along the Yellow and Huaihe rivers, and some parts of Northeast China, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

On Sunday, Beijing's meteorological center also issued a red alert for certain parts of the city, warning residents to beware of a snowstorm and icy roads.

The capital saw its first winter snow late on Saturday. By 11 am Sunday, 56.6 mm of precipitation had fallen, said Sun Jisong, chief forecaster at the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Center.

In Haidian district's Fenghuangling area, as much as 96 mm fell over a period of about 40 hours.

From Saturday until Sunday, the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Center sent out more than 30 million warning messages about the weather to the public.

Sun said the rain and snow were expected to end late on Sunday.

Transport links throughout the capital and surrounding areas were affected by the bad weather.

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