A large number of passengers wait at a railway station as many trains are delayed due to heavy snowfall in Jinan, China, on Jan. 22, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images)
A rare wave of heavy snowfall swept through several central and eastern Chinese provinces on Sunday, disrupting a pre-holiday travel rush involving millions of people going home for the Lunar New Year.
Tianhe Airport in Wuhan was closed at midday, while 16 departing flights were cancelled and 18 incoming flights were forced to land in neighboring Nanchan and Changsha, according to a report from Shanghai Daily. At least 2,000 passengers were stranded at the airports.
China's rail network was also put under pressure, as massive crowds of passengers, frustrated by flight cancellations and road blocks, flocked to the train stations.
"We put four additional trains in service for passengers traveling within Hubei Province," an official with the Wuhan Railway Bureau told the Shanghai Daily.
"But the snowy weather slowed down most trains, causing an average delay of 30 to 50 minutes," he added.
The snow is expected to last in most parts of Wuhan Province until Tuesday, according to the provincial weather bureau.
In Jiangxi Province east of China, the snow has led to severe traffic in interprovincial expressways. In one of the most congested sections, an expressway linking Jiangxi and Hubei Province, the line of vehicles stretched as long as 3 kilometers.
Snow also hit 12 cities in Jiangxi, with local authorities shutting down four interprovincial expressways for safety.
Snow and sleet also blanketed the provinces of Henan and Anhui, while Fujian, Jiangxi and Yunnan Provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region experienced heavy rainfall, according to the National Meteorological Center.
This round of rain and snow will last for three days, the center said in a statement.
The bad weather comes as millions of Chinese workers have started to return home for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations, which is also known as the Spring Festival in China and the most important holiday in the country.
