Residents in Anping County, Hebei Province faced power cuts from September 3, as part of a local government drive to save energy, the Beijing Times reported.

The county was divided into three areas and power was cut for 22 hours from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the next day every two days. Even hospitals and traffic lights were not exempt. But normal power supplies were resumed today as the government looked for alternative ways to restrict the use of electricity.

According to local officials, they were set a target of reducing energy consumption by 6.6 percent over the whole year, but only managed to achieve a cut of 0.9 percent in the first six months.

Residents in neighboring Wuqiang County, were even worse off, only having power in the evenings between 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., every day except Saturday.