BEIJING - Beijing recorded 115 consecutive days without effective precipitation as of Wednesday, its longest dry spell in 47 years.The Chinese capital has not seen precipitation of 0.1 mm or more on any of the past 115 days, according to Beijing's climate observatory.The previous longest dry spell was between October 1970 and February 1971, when the city experienced a 114-day rainless streak.Beijing has seen plenty of cold fronts this winter, but there has been a lack of moisture in the atmosphere, making it difficult for snow to form.Since November 2017, under the influence of La Nina, the Siberian high pressure area and the East Asian trough have intensified, leading to colder air in northern China.However, the subtropical high in the West Pacific is in a position that is not conducive for wet warm air from southern China to move northward and meet the cold air, said Shi Hongbo with the Beijing Climate Center.Beijing is forecast to see sunny to overcast weather without marked snowfall and extreme low temperatures during the 7-day Chinese Lunar New Year holiday starting Thursday, according to the Beijing Meteorological Service. wristbands canadacustom silicone bracelets canadarubber bracelets canadasilicone bracelets canadasilicone wristbands canadacustom wristbands canadacanadian wristbandswristbands canada
A Chinese monal. [File Photo] CHENGDU -- Researchers in Southwest China's Sichuan province have hatched five Chinese monal chicks, a rare species of pheasant, increasing the number of artificially-bred Chinese monals to a global total of 16. With highly iridescent plumage, the Chinese monal is one of the largest pheasants in the world. The species is listed as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is under China's highest national-level protection. There are less than 3,000 wild Chinese monals in the world, which mainly live in mountainous areas, at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level in the northwest parts of Sichuan, and Qinghai and Gansu provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region. The Chinese monal is one of the most difficult species to breed in captivity, said Zhou Caiquan, deputy director of the Sichuan (Baoxing) Protection and Research Center of Chinese Monal. Wild Chinese monals are hard to tame. Some birds still avoid people even after decades in captivity. Furthermore, mating and hatching eggs in cages also prove challenging, Zhou added. Five artificially-bred female Chinese monals in the center laid 16 eggs during the breeding season between April and June, and five of them have been successfully hatched. The sexes of the newborns have not yet been identified as they are still fluffy chicks. Their sexes can be discerned after one year. The center, located in a national nature reserve, is now working with Chinese universities and international institutions, expecting to increase the number of artificially-bred Chinese monals to 50 and release them into the wild in five years.
