The cold also prompted the closure of schools, with the provincial capital of Zhengzhou ordering home-schooling for younger children. It also suspended several train services.
Huang Yunling, a Beijing-based venture capitalist, said the blizzard has disrupted daily life but modern conveniences like home delivery services also meant the old and young could remain safely at home.
“All schools have been suspended and they do online classes at home. There is some impact on our daily life. But in terms of buying daily essentials … it’s very convenient,” the 58-year-old parent said.
Parents in Shaanxi to the north complained that a lack of heating in a junior high school left children with frostbite on their hands and feet.
In the northeastern port city of Dalian, where blizzards and strong winds were forecast, authorities announced a study-at-home rule for all educational institutions to be enforced on Friday.
Further east, in Shanxi, authorities raised the alert for cold waves to its highest, with temperatures expected to fall as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius by Saturday and even to minus degrees Celsius in mountainous areas.
Temperatures in the provincial capital of Taiyuan averaged minus 4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, with heavy snow forcing a three-hour closure of its international airport as workers de-iced the runway.
Severe icing on the grid led to an overnight power outage in Yuanqu, a city of nearly 200,000 to the south, spurring nearby cities and provinces to send emergency mobile power generator trucks.
Gale warnings also went out for far western Xinjiang, the west of Tibet, the Ningxia region, Qinghai province and parts of Inner Mongolia.