Wave of low temperature brings rare snowfall to Shanghai

Southern China experiences rare snowfall as Shanghai residents enjoy the winter spectacle, while authorities warn frigid temperatures and icy roads could persist for several days.

Brenda Goh and Xihao Jiang/Reuters

20 January 2026 at 05:21:33

Wave of low temperature brings rare snowfall to Shanghai

A man holding an umbrella rides a shared bicycle as he crosses an intersection amid snowfall in Shanghai, China January 20, 2026.

Go Nakamura/Reuters

A wave of low temperature sweeping southern China brought rare snowfall to Shanghai on Tuesday, delighting residents of the financial hub as authorities warned that the frigid weather could last for at least three days.

The city, on China's east coast, last experienced a heavy snowfall in January 2018.And just last week, Shanghai basked in unusually high temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), which local media said had caused some osmanthus trees to bloom.

"The weather seems rather strange this year," said 30-year-old resident Yu Xin.

"In general, the temperature fluctuations have been quite significant, so some people might feel a bit uncomfortable," she said.

Chinese state media said other areasexperienced sharp temperature drops, including Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, which sit south of China's Yangtze and Huai rivers. Guizhou province is expected to experience temperature drops of 10 to 14 degrees Celsius, the Zhejiang News reported.

Across China, authorities have also shut 241 sections of major roads in 12 provinces including Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang due to snowfall and icy roads, state broadcaster CCTV said.

-Brenda Goh and Xihao Jiang/Reuters