Tempers flare amid China holiday rail havoc

Tens of thousands of Chinese crammed into a railway station in Guangzhou on Thursday, desperate to get home for a major holiday after days of delay caused by snow and showing signs of losing their patience.

Tempers flared as families and migrant workers surged into the station two days after being told they would have to stay in the southern metropolis for the Lunar New Year holiday. For millions, this is their only chance to see family all year.

"How do you expect us to get up there? What arrangements are in place?" Lai Lihua, a textile worker from the Guangxi region, adjoining Guangdong province, yelled at a policeman.

The officer could only repeat that people must wait until they could reach the platforms and board trains.

"I have less information than you do," he said.

China's battle against brutal winter weather has spurred a propaganda push to try to comfort millions of cold, stranded and dismayed citizens, as more winter storms threatened many areas.

Snow, sleet and ice blanketing much of central, eastern and southern China have killed dozens, cut power and hobbled transport ahead of the holiday, which starts on Wednesday.

As the Communist Party government seeks to clear the transport chaos and ship food and coal to stricken areas, it has launched an intense media campaign to reassure citizens it can handle the hardships and prevent dismay from turning into unrest.

"After 30 years of reform and opening up, we've accumulated a strong material foundation and as long as we're vigorously organised, we will be fully able to vanquish the current hardship," Premier Wen Jiabao told officials in Guangzhou.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao echoed Wen.

"This natural disaster is historically unprecedented and we are also encountering unprecedented difficulties, but we believe that under the government's leadership and with the common efforts of the people and the cooperation of the People's Liberation Army in affected areas recovery work can proceed effectively and smoothly and regular livelihoods can resume at an early date."

TOP-DOWN RULE

For Party leaders, battling the natural disasters that regularly befall the vast, poor country is a chance to reinforce the need for top-down rule. Floods in 1998 and other calamities provided opportunities for similar propaganda drives.

"When one place suffers misfortune, aid comes from all directions," said the official People's Daily. "That is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation and even more it is a vivid portrait of the superiority of the socialist system."

More than 60 people have died, including 25 on Tuesday in a bus crash on an icy mountain road. The snow had lasted 19 days in the central province of Hubei, "almost the worst in a century", the Xinhua news agency said.

The state-run China Daily praised an outpouring of philanthropy to help those in need, but warned profiteers they could expect no mercy. Seven food vendors at Guangzhou station had been accused of profiteering by raising prices.

"These despicable economic creatures should be put to shame before the fine citizenship the overwhelming majority has demonstrated," the newspaper said in an editorial.

Wen visited stranded travellers in central China and then in Guangzhou. State television showed him repeatedly apologising for the disruption and comforting citizens.

UPLIFTING SONG

State television has described the hardships but stressed stories of tireless railway workers, police and officials and the six electricity workers who died while repairing power lines.

Live updates on relief efforts have featured an uplifting song. "We all belong to one family, a loving family," it goes.

There were minor scuffles among people pouring towards Guangzhou station after spending the night in halls and other temporary shelters. Some threw plastic water bottles at police.

But 200,000 passengers were expected to get away on Thursday, media reported, as power was restored to electric trains upline. Trucks stuck on icy highways are also beginning to move.

All the country's main airports were open, the civil aviation regulator said, but the national weather forecaster said snow and sleet would continue to hit parts of central, eastern and southern provinces over the next 10 days.