Millions of Chinese shivered through power cuts and water shortages on Wednesday and millions more were stranded by snow ahead of what for some is the only holiday of the year.
Migrant workers in the booming southern province of Guangdong, standing under a foggy sky and bitterly cold rain, have been urged to abandon plans to go home for Chinese New Year, when families travel vast distances to reunite.
There was a sea of people in and around the main railway station in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, huddled under umbrellas and appearing resigned to their fate.
For millions of migrant workers, leaving their families to work in China's fast-developing cities for little pay, the Chinese New Year holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, is the only chance to see their loved ones all year.
"I couldn't buy a ticket before, but I hope with all the people returning their tickets, someone will sell me one now," said Ding Ming, eager to return to his home town in Chongqing, 30 hours away by train, to see his wife and 10-yer-old child.
"If I don't get one, or can't go back, then it's not ideal. That's just the way it is."
About 50 people have died, including 25 on Tuesday in a bus crash on an icy mountain road, and Premier Wen Jiabao apologised to stranded passengers ahead of the holiday, which starts next Wednesday.
An electrician died of a heart attack on the top of a 21-metre electricity pylon, while another died after falling from a broken power pole, State Grid sources told Xinhua news agency.
The news came just a day after Wen visited the family of three electricians who died on Saturday when cleaning the ice from a transmission tower.
The snow and sleet blanketing much of central, eastern and southern China have crippled thousands of trucks and trains loaded with coal, food and passengers in the most severe winter weather for some parts in half a century.
