A heavy snowstorm in Jiangsu province caused schools to postpone the opening of the new semester for a day.

Students in Jiangsu were scheduled to return to school on Tuesday, according to the province's Department of Education.

People walk on a snowy road in Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province, Feb 19, 2013. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

But following the heavy snow on Monday night, the provincial education authority said on Tuesday that it has rescheduled the first day of school to Wednesday.

Meteorologists said the temperature dropped 8 degrees on Monday, and that the lowest temperature on Tuesday will be between minus 3 and minus 6 degrees Celsius.

The snow also caused the cancellation of 34 high-speed trains from Beijing to Shanghai, and Shanghai to Ningbo, on Tuesday, according to railway authorities.

At about 6 am on Tuesday, the snow in Jiangsu's capital city of Nanjing was 18 cm deep, while the snow in Lishui county on the outskirts of the city was up to 20 cm deep.

Due to the adverse conditions, education authorities asked schools to warn parents.

Su Le, who has been a high school teacher in Taizhou for 20 years, said that he has no recollection of his school closing due to heavy snow.

"Even during the heavy snow in 2008, we went to school as usual," Su said.

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