Ahh, our beloved Beijing. Now locked in -- well nearly -- by that Wonder in White -- snow.

If you've been out and about today and if you can even figure out the slightest hint of those "simplified Chinese characters", you'd have probably guessed that there were alerts in red type throughout the city.

Yup. Just to coincide with the so-called "official release" of ETC and MTC payment services across most, if not all, freeways, they decide to roll out the red white carpet -- ahead of time.

Updated info from the Beijing traffic police tells the tale: the first-ever freeway to fall prey to the snow was the Jingjintang Freeway, which got bolted at 21:09:36 on December 20. Just a minute later, at 21:10:50, the Jingshen Freeway was bolted. Traffic was diverted off from the Jingjintang Freeway at the Dayangfang central toll plaza near Yizhuang, and Jingshen threw its locks at the final Beijing exit at Xiji. (The cause: that part of the freeway outside Beijing already threw its locks on its own bits.)

Just over 20 minutes later, The Jing's newest addition to Tianjin, the Jingjin Freeway, got shut. All traffic had to make it over to National Highway 104.

The first snowflakes reachd Tongzhou at 21:33:38. In just over an hour's time, the snow had reached levels where the 6th Ring Road from Liuyuan Bridge (at the interchange with the Jingmi Highway) had to be sealed through to Taihe Bridge (near the southeastern tip of the Yizhuang Development Area).

Twenty minutes into midnight on the 21st, the Jingping Freeway was shut due to snow invading the Tianjin bit.

The freeways opened and shut today like mad. Fully locked was the Jingjin Freeway and the Jingjintang Freeway as of Caiyu, then again as of the central toll gate near Yizhuang. Not affected -- oddly enough -- were freeways to the southwest, north, and northwest.

Meanwhile, we're holding up the suspense here. Early tomorrow morning, we're treating you to the scariest pics from today's snow-ins on the freeway.

Trucks galore...