Snow and fog cloud exodus back to work after Lunar New Year

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Snow and fog cloud exodus back to work after Lunar New Year

PUBLISHED : Monday, 23 February, 2015, 10:29am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 2:52am

Li Jing [email protected]

Snowploughs drive along a main road in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, which has been hit by blizzards and a number of serious road accidents. Photo: Xinhua

Millions of travellers battled blizzards and heavy fog in the exodus back to workplaces yesterday as today's end of the week-long national Lunar New Year holiday loomed.

Mainland reports said provinces in the northeast were blanketed by heavy snow and central and southern provinces by thick fog, adding to traffic woes for those hitting the road again.

Passengers reportedly made nearly 1.1 billion journeys over the break this year, with the traffic authorities expecting yesterday afternoon's travel crunch to intensify today.

A citizen rides bicycle on snow-covered road in Changchun, Jinlin. Photo: Xinhua

The National Meteorological Centre issued a blue alert - its lowest warning - for blizzards in the country's northeast and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible. Three people were killed and eight injured after a car crashed into a coach in heavy snow in Heilongjiang on the weekend, Xinhua reported.

China News Service reported that conditions on more than 30 expressways were being closely monitored. The Ministry of Public Security said heavy snowfalls had already shut down some major traffic arteries in Heilongjiang, Jilin , Liaoning , Shanxi and Gansu provinces, while thick fog was expected to disrupt traffic in Henan , Jiangsu , Anhui and Hubei .

A woman walks against snow on a street in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Photo: Xinhua

Beijing authorities expected a surge in traffic on highways linking the capital with other provinces.

Major rail hubs were also bracing for the arrival of millions of travellers in Guangzhou in Guangdong, Wuhan in Hubei and Chengdu in Sichuan .

The Southern Metropolis News reported that tourists flocked to Hong Kong, with 30 per cent more travellers passing through the Huanggang, Futian and Luohu checkpoints on the first four days of the holiday compared to the same time last year.