Sharp drops in temperatures, strong winds howling ... A cold snap has struck many parts of China.
气温骤降，狂风呼啸……寒潮席卷中国大部分地区。
The National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued an orange alert on Dec 28, as a cold air mass swept across the country from north to south. This is the first orange warning since 2016, which is the highest in the three-tier ranking, followed by yellow and blue.
随着冷空气自北向南侵袭中国，12月28日，中央气象台发布寒潮橙色预警。这是自2016年来首个橙色预警。橙色为三级寒潮预警中的最高级别，其次分别是黄色预警和蓝色预警。
On Dec 27, the temperature in the Greater Hinggan Mountains of Heilongjiang province fell to -44.5 C, the lowest since winter began, the region’s meteorological service said.
12月27日，黑龙江大兴安岭气温降至零下44.5℃，为入冬后最低气温，该地区气象局如此表示。
According to Sun Jun, the chief forecaster from the NMC, this round of the cold wave is tougher than the same period in normal years. Temperatures in more than 25 cities could reach record lows. Even in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, temperatures have reached subzero.
中央气象台首席预报员孙军称，与历史同期相比，此次寒潮强度更强。超过25个城市气温创历史新低。甚至湖南、江西的气温也跌破冰点。
The NMC warned that as a result there could be power shortages.
中央气象局提醒，寒潮可能导致电力供应不足。
Since early December, China has reported power squeezes in the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang.
自12月初开始，就有报道称湖南、江西、浙江电力供应紧张。
Street lamps in several cities have not been on. Elevators in some office buildings haven’t worked. The central air conditioning in malls, libraries and government buildings has been off for several days, Xinhua reported.
据新华社报道，一些城市的路灯关闭照明；一些写字楼的电梯停运；商场、图书馆、政府办公大楼的中央空调也已关闭数天。
According to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the power cuts in these provinces are a result of the dramatic increase of demand for electricity fueled by the high demand of industries that have now recovered and are keen to make up for the lost time earlier in the year and the low temperatures.
国家发展改革委员会表示，目前工业生产已恢复，并全力弥补今年早些时候的损失，这些省份停电是因为工业生产的高需求和低温寒流叠加，导致电力需求高速增长。
Meanwhile, domestic needs for electricity also surged. For instance, in Hunan, low temperatures came at least one month earlier than usual in the province this year. Millions of people started using space heaters to deal with the cold weather.
与此同时，家庭用电需求也激增。比如，今年湖南的低温天气至少比往年提前了一个月。数百万人开始使用小型取暖器来应对低温天气。
In order to help people get through these conditions, China is increasing its supply of natural gas and coal to ensure its power generation and heating needs, according to the NDRC. Major coal producers in the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi have been instructed to boost production capacity and coal imports. The NDRC has ordered power plants to have coal reserves for at least 18 days. It would also guarantee the power support to regions in Hunan and Jiangxi, which are short of the supply of coal.
国家发改委表示，为帮助人们抵御寒冷天气，我国正在增加天然气和煤炭的供应，以确保发电供暖需求。国家发改委已经指导山西、陕西主要煤炭企业提高产能，增加煤炭进口，并要求电厂存煤至少可用18天。发改委也将保障煤炭短缺的湖南、江西等地的电力供应稳定。
