Millions stranded by snow in China holiday havoc

By John Ruwitch

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Millions of Chinese shivered through power cuts and water shortages on Wednesday and millions more were stranded by snow and ice ahead of what is for many their only family reunion of the year.

Migrant workers in the booming southern province of Guangdong, standing under a grey sky and bitterly cold rain, have been urged to abandon plans to go home for the Lunar New Year, when families travel vast distances to reunite.

A sea of people crammed around the main railway station in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, huddling under umbrellas and waiting for a chance to get home. Trains have been paralyzed by crippled power upline that has snarled the regional network.

For tens of millions of migrant workers, leaving their families to work in China's fast-developing cities, the holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, is the only chance to see loved ones all year.

"I couldn't buy a ticket before, but I hope with all the people returning their tickets, someone will sell me one now," said Ding Ming, eager to return to his hometown in Chongqing, 30 hours away by train, to see his wife and 10-year-old child.

"If I don't get one, or can't go back, then it's not ideal. That's just the way it is."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told passengers stuck at Changsha station in southern China on Tuesday that he was sorry. On Wednesday, he visited Guangzhou to offer similar comfort.

"You have suffered a lot from the inconvenience," Wen told the crowd with a bullhorn as families stood around, some playing cards, some trying to entertain their children.

Ye Jun, who had camped out near the station for two days waiting for a train to Wuhan in central China, responded to the Premier's visit with exhausted resignation.

"It hasn't made much difference. We're still sitting here like before," Ye told Reuters.

DEATHS, POWER CUTS, INFLATION

At least 55 people have died, including 25 on Tuesday in a bus crash on an icy mountain road, Xinhua news agency reported. Several electricity workers were killed while repairing frozen and collapsed lines.

The snow and sleet blanketing much of central, eastern and southern China has also hobbled infrastructure already straining to keep up with feverish economic growth.

Highways and railways are clogged with stranded trucks and trains loaded with coal, food and passengers. Police said 6,400 vehicles were stuck on one stretch of highway in Hunan province, next to Guangdong.

The fierce winter weather, which many affected places call the worst in half a century or longer, was likely to last at least three more days, forecasters said.