China Snowfalls Hamper Biggest Human Migration for New Year
China Snowfalls Hamper Biggest Human Migration for New Year
Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Passengers wait to board trains at the Hongqiao Train Station in Shanghai on Jan. 19, 2012. The week-long Lunar New Year holiday kicks off on Jan. 23.
Passengers wait to board trains at the Hongqiao Train Station in Shanghai on Jan. 19, 2012. The week-long Lunar New Year holiday kicks off on Jan. 23. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Heavy snow and freezing rain that hit central and eastern China in the past two days will continue through tomorrow, disrupting transport as the Lunar New Year holiday spurs the world’s biggest annual human migration.
The China Meteorological Administration reported on its website as of 10 a.m. local time today that parts of Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guizhou provinces would experience snow or freezing rain through tomorrow. The agency lifted an earlier blizzard warning.
Some 83.73 million people traveled by road yesterday, a record since the festival travel season started on Jan. 8, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Transport. Snow has hampered journeys and increased road safety risks in Shanxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces as well as Chongqing Municipality, and in western China’s Xinjiang more than 400 travelers were trapped by a sudden snowstorm, Xinhua said.
A cold front will cause temperatures to fall in most of the country starting today and extending into Jan. 24, with temperatures in northeastern China reaching as low as minus-30 degrees Celsius (minus-22 Fahrenheit), Xinhua reported.
Bus Crash
In Shanxi, a province to the west of Beijing, a bus collided with a car yesterday, killing seven people on board, after snowfalls on Jan. 20 blanketed most of the province and forced the closing of a dozen highways. As of noon yesterday, the majority of the closed highways had been opened, Xinhua said, citing He Jianzhong, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport.
In Xinjiang, 448 people and 80 vehicles were stranded on a highway late yesterday in a sudden blizzard before being rescued earlier today, Xinhua reported.
More than 1,100 people and more than 280 snowplows worked to clear the roads in Shanxi, Xinhua reported, citing the provincial highway management bureau.
The government estimates some 1 billion people will have traveled by road and rail in time for the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday that begins tomorrow.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at frong2@bloomberg.net; Michael Forsythe in Beijing at mforsythe@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net
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