Heavy snows and biting cold hit parts of Asia Monday, with unusually harsh winter weather snarling up transport across north China, South Korea and India, but little lasting economic damage was expected. Beijing began the working week after a blast of harsh cold and heavy snow blanketed the capital and surrounding cities over the weekend, paralyzing highways and forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights. As the cold snap pressed east, swathes of the Korean peninsula were also hit by heavy snow Monday, choking up the rush hour commute in Seoul, where the main domestic airport, Gimpo, canceled all domestic flights. Dozens of people were also reported to have died after the cold snap swept over northern India at the weekend. In China, there were no signs that the cold spell would trigger the weeks-long disruptions and power cuts that hit some parts of southern China in unusually icy weather in 2008. The icy conditions could push up food prices temporarily by stalling shipments and damaging greenhouses, delay flights, and hold up business in Beijing and other cities for a few days. But Yi Xianrong, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said there would be no significant damage. “This won't have any impact. It's too small and local,” he said. “In fact, all the snow could be a positive thing for agriculture in northern China, which is usually so dry ... The melted snow will help feed crops in spring.” The wave of cold across north China is expected to continue through the first part of the week. The national meteorological office warned that temperatures in the nation's far north could fall to around minus 32 degrees Celsius (
