Snowstorms in China leave 500,000 rail passengers stranded

Blizzards stranded more than half a million train passengers in a Chinese town today.

The mostly migrant workers were stuck in the southern city of Guangzhou because the heavy snowfall in provinces to the north had cut off parts of the busy railway line to Beijing.

Officials were frantically trying to prevent riots breaking out and find temporary shelter for the crowd, which was swelling each day as more workers tried to return to their home towns for the Chinese New Year.

The holiday, which begins on February 7, is as important in China as Christmas is in the West. For many , it is their only chance to visit their families, and they stay away for weeks.

But many looked set to be disappointed as weather forecasters warned today that more heavy snow and freezing rain would hit the central provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Henan, as well as Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu to the east.

The storms, which have killed 24 people since they began on January 10, have already caused economic losses of around £1.2 billion the Civil Affairs Ministry said.

At Guangzhou’s main train station, stalled travellers packed a massive outdoor plaza. The crowd eventually spilled out onto a major thoroughfare in front of the station, where workers created small camps with their suitcases, bundles and plastic bags full of snacks. The ground was littered with chicken bones, sunflower seed shells and cigarette butts.

Radio announcements told people to stop going to the station, which ceased selling tickets. State-run newspapers ran headlines urging travellers to seek ticket refunds and stay put for the holiday.

Li Moming, a construction worker, said he had spent the night on the street, enduring a cold drizzle. The train that was to take the 48-year-old to his village in central Henan province 20 hours away was cancelled. He said his next move might be to scrap his travel plans and spend the holiday in his dormitory room at his work site.

“What can you do? It’s the weather. It’s nobody’s fault. You can’t control the weather,” said Li.

Other migrant workers were just as stoic an approach to life they have learned from living on the bottom rung of China’s society, with constant hardship, long delays and disappointment.

But authorities were prepared for the worst. Hundreds of police and soldiers set up barricades and controlled the flow of the crowd. They blew whistles and barked orders at the travellers with megaphones.

In recent years, Chinese workers have learned to organise strikes and protests. A great number of them carry mobile phones, and text messages can whip up a crowd quickly. Many already have grievances about work conditions or wages, which often go unpaid. Growing frustration about the transport delays could inspire some to riot.