It was not the venue for a typical holiday greeting, but certainly a timely one.
When Premier Wen Jiabao appeared yesterday before stranded crowds at Changsha railway station in Hunan - where many highways, railways and airports have been paralyzed by days of snowfall - people felt a sense of relief.
"Early festival greetings to you," Wen said using a loudspeaker.
He expressed "deep apologies" to the passengers, eager to go home for the Spring Festival holiday, which starts on Feb 7 this year.
"We're doing everything we can to fix things. The top priority is to repair power grids. Once they start working, trains will operate. And before long, you will all be home for the festival," Wen reassured them.
The premier flew out of Beijing on Monday night, but had to land at Tianhe airport in neighboring Hubei province because of the bad weather, before completing his journey by train. He arrived in Changsha, Hunan's capital, yesterday morning.
Wen discussed with local officials plans to restore power supply, and rail traffic from Changsha to Shaoguan in Guangdong province. "Once this problem is solved, the overall national issue can be dealt with," Wen said.
It is no easy task, however. Snowfall in Hunan since Jan 13, the heaviest since 1954, has forced Changsha to mobilize 10,000-plus workers to clear snow. Yang Yuanxiu, with the city management bureau, can testify to the gigantic task facing them.
"Our bureau - with about 1,000 employees - was called upon more than two weeks ago when heavy snowfall started。 Our priority then was to make sure snow and ice were cleared on the overpasses and the three large bridges above Xiangjiang River," Yang said.
But by last week, the city management bureau could no longer battle the snowstorm, which was affecting more and more areas. So, more than 9,000 workers from the local forestry and sanitation bureaus were summoned to help sweep and spread salt on the ice-covered roads.
The snowstorms caught the city by surprise. Snow hardly ever left a mark during the many warm winters Changsha has witnessed - "the snowflakes melted as they fell", Yang said.
This lack of experience cost her crew, already a fatigued bunch, heavily. More than 1,500 of the 10,000 workers - mostly without dry clothes or thick boots - had been placed on the injury list as of Sunday.
The city began using more than 100 large snow-sweeping vehicles to assist the effort since Sunday, because "snow had piled up over 10 cm," Yang said.
Workers at some emergency response units of her bureau are already living together in a paramilitary routine - wake at 4 am, go to work together at 5 am, be on standby the rest of the day after the job is done, and lights out at 9 pm.
"I used to take cabs to and from work in the first few days," said a cleaner, who did not want to reveal his name. "There are no taxis now; basically, no transport at all. So we have to stick together and fight it through."
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.
