Cold front to sweep central and eastern China

A lady rides an electric bicycle against cold wind on a road in Yakeshi City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 23, 2011. A cold spell which swept over central and eastern China recently brought rain and snow to the areas, while temperatures dropped abruptly. (Xinhua/Yu Changjun)

Children run in rain at a square in Qingdao City, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 23, 2011. A cold spell which swept over central and eastern China recently brought rain and snow to the areas, while temperatures dropped abruptly. (Xinhua/Huang Jiexian)

Bicycle riders move in rain on a road in Shanting District, Zaozhuang City, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 23, 2011. A cold spell which swept over central and eastern China recently brought rain and snow to the areas, while temperatures dropped abruptly. (Xinhua/Li Zongxian)

People walk on a road covered by snow in the Derbur forest zone of Genhe City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 23, 2011. A cold spell which swept over central and eastern China recently brought rain and snow to the areas, while temperatures dropped abruptly. (Xinhua/Yu Changjun)

BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- A cold spell started sweeping over central China on Saturday and will continue moving east over the next three days, bringing an end to the recent fog, said China's meteorological authorities on Sunday.

Temperatures in the central parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and most parts of northeast China will fall by eight to 14 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Snow and rainfall will widely cover northeastern China, and some parts of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces will face heavy snow.

The cold front will also bring rainfall to the country's central and eastern Yangtze valley regions, and some parts of Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces will get hit by heavy rains, the NMC said.

The sharp drop of temperature will bring the "real winter" -- with an average temperature of less than ten degrees Celsius for more than five days in a row -- to most parts of the northeast, according to the NMC.

The effects of the cold front are expected to end on Oct. 25.