While drought was lingering southwest China, snow, frost and heavy rains which were rarely seen in the same period of previous years, hit east and north China.

Heavy rains have been pouring in 45 counties in east China's Jiangxi Province since Sunday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, said Zhu Shuigui, head of the office of the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

The flood season came half a month earlier than normal years, he said. "This is because of the extreme weather across the entire country this year, including the drought in the southwest."

The province has ordered strengthening monitoring of nearly 300 small reservoirs while the water level of tributaries of Ganjiang River had exceeded the alarming line.

Residents of east China's Shandong Province had to wear winter clothes again as the temperature dropped by 8 degrees Celsius to as low as minus three degrees.

Frost was forecast in the next three days across the province, one of China's major grain producers. The government should help farmers protect vegetables and fruit trees, said Wang Yehong, engineer of Shandong Provincial Meteorological Station.

An unexpected snow hit the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday when residents were expecting a warm spring. In Chifeng City, about 100,000 people had been affected and more than 9,000 livestock had died in the continuous low temperature since January, said officials with the city's Civil Affairs Bureau.

As of Friday, drought had affected 25.39 million people and 18.08 million livestock, as well as 122 million mu (8.13 million hectares) of arable land nationwide, said the statement.

Meanwhile, dry weather and rising temperatures continue in southwest China. Drought had affected 25.39 million people and 18.08 million livestock, as well as 8.13 million hectares of arable land in provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said Zhang Xu, deputy director of the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2010)