A woman shields herself from sun in Beijing yesterday, when temperatures in the city reached their highest of the year. As of 2 p.m., temperatures in most of Beijing rose to between 37 and 39 degrees Celsius and some areas in downtown saw temperatures exceeding 42 degrees Celsius. Yesterday was the first day of dog days in Chinese calendar, marking the beginning of the hottest part of the summer that will last 40 days this year. The National Meteorological Center on Sunday issued an alert for high temperatures, forecasting that a heat wave will hit central, eastern and northern China yesterday, with temperatures in some regions rising to around 40 degrees Celsius.

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