Snow and freezing rain have disrupted travel in China on Monday, already causing hundreds of train and flight cancellations, as millions of people travel across the country ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins this weekend. Ta.
For many years, the holiday, known as Spring Festival in Chinese, saw mass travel within and to China, resulting in the world’s largest annual migration.
During the coronavirus pandemic, fear of lockdowns, quarantines and other rules have deterred many people from traveling. Last year, after facing widespread protests, authorities abruptly lifted those rules weeks before Lunar New Year, but many would-be travelers stayed put, fearing the spread of the virus.
Holiday travel was supposed to return to normal levels this year. China’s aviation regulator said it was planning 2,500 additional international flights ahead of Saturday’s holiday, and transport officials said 480 million rail trips would be taken during the 40-day travel surge. He said he expected it to increase by nearly 40% from last year.
But bad weather, which started last week and is expected to continue for several more days, was already starting to get in the way.
“Right now I’m seriously worried about returning home,” said Mei Huang, 45, a salesperson in Beijing. She was scheduled to vacation in her hometown in central Hubei province for the first time since the pandemic. She said, “My journey home doesn’t seem to be as smooth as it used to be.”
In recent days, the National Meteorological Center has issued warnings for blizzards and blizzards in several provinces and cities in central and eastern China, including Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei and Anhui.
Transport authorities sent thousands of workers to shovel snow and defrost railways and roads. Police officers helped push a car stuck on the icy road. About 100 expressway toll plazas in Anhui province are closed to cars due to snow and ice.
China National Railway Group, the national railway operator that handled an average of more than 11 million passengers a day in the week since the annual rush began in late January, on Saturday suspended trains and restricted speeds. announced that it had. Shanghai, Hunan, Hubei, and parts of Guangdong. The carrier said it was also inspecting major routes, bridges, tunnels and other critical infrastructure.
The country’s aviation regulator said hundreds of flights had been suspended in recent days. Two runways at Wuhan Tianhe Airport were closed on Sunday, and more than 200 flights were canceled. There were also large numbers of flight cancellations and delays at airports in Anhui and Hubei provinces.
Huang, a salesperson in Beijing, said he decided to avoid returning to Hubei province for Lunar New Year last year because he was worried about the infection and spread of the coronavirus. She hopes to return again this year, she said, unless snow and slippery conditions interfere with her plans.