Yellow alert for heavy fog issued in large parts of China

Forty expressways in east China reopened to traffic after 51 road sections of them closed due to dense fog, said the country's transportation authorities on Sunday.

Fog-shrouded roads in Tianjin, Shandong, Hebei, Henan and Shanghai accounted for 75 percent of all the affected sections on Sunday, said Liang Xiaoan, spokesman from the Ministry of Transport.

All the affected roads had reopened to traffic by 3 p.m., Liang said.

However, five expressways in northeast China's Heilongjiang province still saw some or all sections closed caused by snowfall.

As of Sunday, trips made via the nation's road network had increased 6.5 percent year on year to 1.47 billion since Jan. 16, when the country's "chunyun", or passenger transportation during the Spring Festival holidays, started.

On Sunday, trips made through shipping totaled 1.4 million, up 19.7 percent from the corresponding time of 2013, the ministry said.