SEASONAL DISASTER

Ice sculptures
Bicycles are transformed into fluffy white sculptures as a freak snowstorm hits Beijing, China, on Nov. 1, 2009.

Heavy snow is rare in China's capital and almost unheard of this early in the winter. Many branches and even entire trees collapsed as the weight of snow built up.

Seasonal disaster
Chinese pedestrians struggle as they make their way along a street during a snowstorm in Hefei, in east China's Anhui province on Nov. 16, 2009.

At least 38 people have died in some of the worst snows to hit northern China in decades, state media reports, leaving up to one million people in need of some form of disaster assistance.