China's west swelters under record temperatures*

BEIJING, June 24 (AFP) Jun 24, 2007

Westernmost China's Xinjiang region was under a blistering heatwave
Sunday, with the mercury hitting as high as 44.8 degrees Celsius (112.6
degrees Fahrenheit) in Turpan city, a local official said.

Turpan is usually regarded as the hottest place in China, but in June
temperatures normally average about 31 degrees Celsius, a meteorologist
at the Urumqi meteorological bureau said of the desert region.

In northern Xinjiang, where temperatures are usually milder, the mercury
Sunday hit a record 41.7 degrees Celsius in the town of Shihezi, the
official said by phone.

"This is the highest temperature recorded in Shihezi in 30 years," she
told AFP while declining to identify herself.

The official People's Daily said the mercury hit 43.2 degrees in Shihezi
on Saturday, but the local official said the report was wrong and the
high was 41.2 degrees.

Average temperatures for Shihezi in June are about 31 degrees, she said.

"It is too early to say with any certainty that these temperatures are
due to global warming," the official said.

"But normally we don't get such high temperatures until July."