SHENYANG, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Most vehicles in the northeastern metropolis of Shenyang in Liaoning province are forbidden to hit the road on Monday except those for public use to ensure the smooth cleanup and transportation of snow, which hit the city on Saturday night and caused major traffic troubles.

    Shenyang now has 580,000 motor vehicles. Only buses, taxis, ambulances, bank money-escort cars, fire engines, road repair carsand utility repair cars are allowed to hit the road on Monday, according to an emergency meeting of the municipal government on Sunday evening to cope with the heavy snow.

    The strongest March snowstorm to hit northeast China's Liaoning Province in 56 years has caused major traffic troubles and inconveniences to people's living,

    Beginning Saturday night, rain and snow has fallen continually in most parts of Liaoning province, with reported precipitations of 42.9 millimeters in Shenyang until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Shenyang Meteorological Observatory.

    Snow piled up two meters high in some areas, it said.

    The snowstorm forced Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang to close at 8 a.m. Sunday.

    By 4 p.m., more than 100 flights had been cancelled and over 1,000 passengers were stranded at the airport, which was hoping to reopen on Monday.

    Eleven expressways in Liaoning were all shut down.

    The heavy snow also hit many parts of north China, including Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia autonomous regions, disrupting traffic but alleviating the serious drought in the region.

    The central meteorological observatory forecast that rainfall would continue to hit most parts of north China in the next two days.