A tourist takes a picture beside Santai Pavilion on Gaolan Mountain near Lanzhou, Gansu province, on Monday. The cold front that swept northern China brought the season's first snow to the city.[Photo by Pei Qiang/For China Daily]

Front expected to affect milder parts of country by Wednesday

For Li Qi, the first day of work after the eight-day National Day holiday seems rough both mentally and physically, due to the sharp drop in temperatures and a rain-triggered flight delay.

The 33-year-old IT worker and his family returned from the Philippines to Beijing on a flight that was scheduled to land on Sunday night. But low visibility due to fog and rain forced the aircraft to land at Shanghai instead.