Rain Delay Passengers wait for their trains amid the rain at the square of Guangzhou Railway Station. Over 500,000 passengers were stuck in Guangzhou in the transport havoc caused by heavy snow to the north.
Rising Tempers A fight breaks out among passengers trying to get on a delayed train in Guangzhou. Hundreds of police and soldiers were called out to control swelling crowds at the station.
Waiting in Line Hopeful passengers wait in a snow-covered yard in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. China expects more than 2.3 billion trips by commuters criss-crossing the country for family reunions and holidays over the Chinese New Year holiday season, a voyage now jeopardized by the weather.
Footprints in the Snow Passengers walk around snowdrifts at the Hefei railway station, Anhui province. Dozens of people have died and many highways, railways and airports have been paralyzed in central, eastern and southern China ¡ª areas used to milder winters.
Danger Zone Bystanders walk around the damaged pavilion of a PetroChina gas station in Wuhan. Two people were injured when the station's roof suddenly collapsed due to heavy snow, local media reported.
Rush Hour In Hefei, Anhui province, passengers line up to buy rail tickets. Forecasters have warned of more brutal weather across eastern and central areas in coming days.
No Parking A minibus is trapped on an ice-covered road in Chenzhou, Hunan province. The worst snowfalls in up to 50 years brought traffic to a standstill in China's eastern and central provinces, stranding thousands of vehicles on icy highways.
Stranded Thousands of passengers wait in the rain outside the railway station in Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong, after blizzards and ice storms disrupted train service across much of southern and eastern China.
River of Ice Ice drifts pile up on the banks of the Yellow River in Shandong Province. Authorities attempted to clear the ice, which covered up to 450 sq km of the river, before it could do damage to any of the floating bridges that cross it.
A Chilly Swim A winter swimmer towels off beside a stranded ship on the banks of the Yangtze River in Hubei province. As the Yangtze froze, its height fell to its lowest seasonal level since records began in 1866, affecting shipping, fisheries and water supply.
Giving It a Rest Chinese passengers sleep on benches at the Wuhan railway station. The weather closed airports, highways and train lines across central and eastern China, stranding tens of thousands of travellers and threatening to block food supplies.
Keeping Order Paramilitary police control a crush of people trying to buy rail tickets in Nanjing after long-distance bus services are cancelled due to snowfall.
Keeping Warm A Chinese woman bundles up against the cold in Lanzhou, in northwest Gansu province. With meteorologists warning of more snowstorms to come, local governments braced for further pressure on already severely strained transport, power and communications.
Falling Snow In Anhui province, the roof of a farmers' market weighed down by heavy snow collapsed Saturday, trapping eight people for several hours.
Time for Snow Tires? Workers in Wuhan clear snow from a car showroom, after the roof collapsed, damaging several new cars. The China Meteorological Administration early Monday issued a red alert for severe snowstorms forecast for central and eastern China.
Road Closed Truckers stand by their vehicles in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, after authorities restricted access to the highways for safety reasons, leaving thousands of motorists stranded.
Dangerous Job A worker clears snow from a busy highway in Hami, in northwestern China's Xinjiang province. Some places in the capital of Urumqi reported a maximum snowfall of 20 cm in late December-early January.
Snow in China Though the days may be different, gathering with family and friends for major holidays is the same the world over. China¡¯s biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year, prompts a mass migration (the largest on the planet, said BBC News) as tens of millions travel home. In 2008, however, travel proved nearly impossible. Snow storms closed roads and railroads across eastern, central, and southern China, reported BBC News. This image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the morning of January 29, 2008, shows how extensive the unusual snow cover is. The image encompasses most of eastern China, save the northernmost provinces and the cloud-covered southern coast. From north to south, nearly the entire country is covered in snow. Unlike a photo, which uses the visible light that the human eye sees, this image includes both infrared light and visible light to provide a contrast between snow and clouds. Snow is red-orange, while clouds are white and peach. Some of the worst-affected provinces, such as Guangdong along the southern coast, were still under cloud cover when MODIS captured this image. Other areas, such as the North China Plain (where Beijing is located), are snow-free. The ground is green-blue, the shade of bare or sparsely vegetated earth in this type of image. The snow storms started on January 10, spreading snow over 14 provinces and affecting approximately 80 million people, said BBC News on January 29. The snow destroyed crops and homes and led to power outages, BBC said. Coal shortages, made worse by the difficulty of transporting coal on snowy roads, caused additional power outages. Some of the more severely affected provinces are labeled in this image. These provinces are in the south, where snow is unusual.
