Guangzhou Train Station...

[DMikeS4321]

Wow, the minute I saw the headline I knew what this was about...

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle3264827.ece

 

Snow to the west and north towards Yunnan and Shanghai.

 

I was trapped with my daughter and her friend for hours in the Guangzhou train station back in 2005. It was nightmarish... nothing but a huge, swarming mass of people for as far as the eye could see.

 

My wife has been telling me how cold it's been in Nanning. I have a real-time thermometer on my computer that shows the current temperatures in Nanning, Sequim, WA (we're hoping to move there soon) and NorCal where I presently live. It has been COLD in Nanning, sometimes colder than in Sequim. Lao Po tells me it is the coldest it's been there in over 45 years, so cold that most are really suffering (very few homes there have heat as it doesn't usually get cold enough to warrant the expense).

[GZBILL]

Wow, the minute I saw the headline I knew what this was about...

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle3264827.ece

 

Snow to the west and north towards Yunnan and Shanghai.

 

I was trapped with my daughter and her friend for hours in the Guangzhou train station back in 2005. It was nightmarish... nothing but a huge, swarming mass of people for as far as the eye could see.

 

My wife has been telling me how cold it's been in Nanning. I have a real-time thermometer on my computer that shows the current temperatures in Nanning, Sequim, WA (we're hoping to move there soon) and NorCal where I presently live. It has been COLD in Nanning, sometimes colder than in Sequim. Lao Po tells me it is the coldest it's been there in over 45 years, so cold that most are really suffering (very few homes there have heat as it doesn't usually get cold enough to warrant the expense).

 

Part of this is because of the proximity to Spring Festival.

 

You ain't seen nothing until you've been in the Guangzhou train station during Chinese New Year. It ain't pretty.

[chilton747]

Does anyone know if a train from Jiangxi to Shenzhen stops at Guangzhou? My wife left from Jiujiang in Jiangxi headed to Shenzhen over 2 days ago and I haven't been able to reach her cell phone. I am a bit worried.

[chilton747]

Does anyone know if a train from Jiangxi to Shenzhen stops at Guangzhou? My wife left from Jiujiang in Jiangxi headed to Shenzhen over 2 days ago and I haven't been able to reach her cell phone. I am a bit worried.

 

I just got an email from her. She is in Shenzhen thank God!!!! It seems her cell phone number has changed somehow. Red alert off now.

[GZBILL]

I decided to go with a friend and just take alook at the GZ central train station. It ain't a pretty picture!

 

First, you can't even get close to it now. There is a wall of cops keeping everybody out, but letting those in get out. Conservative estimate is that there are 200k people there stranded. The railway authority says they've suspended all ticket sales until February 5th or 6th.

 

The problem isn't the extreme weather up north. Weather in Beijing and Shanghai is not that abnormal given the time of year, they say. The problem they say is that water and ice has shorted out electrical stations along the way up north and until those are fixed the only train service is through the GZ east train station and then only on those lines going to Hong Kong or staying in Guangdong province -- but even many of them aren't running since their ultimate destination is north.

 

The situation in the GZ airport is also not good. There are at least 30k people stranded there because of the freezing rains, they say, and they don't think flights to northern destinations will resume for another day or so at the earliest. Even flights to Hong Kong are sporadic because of the raining in HK and GZ.

[Shadowman]

I recently had the "pleasure" of departing from the Guangzhou railway station... there aren't words to describe the crowd and chaos... think New York's Penn Station times 1000! When they changed the platform number just prior to boarding, I thought for sure we would be crushed in the stampede! I'm happy to report, however, that the 14 hour ride to Hunan province (in a soft-sleeper cabin) was actually quite pleasant.

[GZBILL]

I recently had the "pleasure" of departing from the Guangzhou railway station... there aren't words to describe the crowd and chaos... think New York's Penn Station times 1000! When they changed the platform number just prior to boarding, I thought for sure we would be crushed in the stampede! I'm happy to report, however, that the 14 hour ride to Hunan province (in a soft-sleeper cabin) was actually quite pleasant.

 

What day did you depart?

[rogerluli]

I recently had the "pleasure" of departing from the Guangzhou railway station... there aren't words to describe the crowd and chaos... think New York's Penn Station times 1000! When they changed the platform number just prior to boarding, I thought for sure we would be crushed in the stampede! I'm happy to report, however, that the 14 hour ride to Hunan province (in a soft-sleeper cabin) was actually quite pleasant.

 

Taken that ride several times... My wife's hometown is Huaihua...

[chilton747]

My wifes train was held for 5 hours in Jiangxi. The power had gone out in the city. Imagine all of those people sitting and standing in this huge train station in sub-freezing temperatures with no electricity and no heat. She finally made it to Shenzhen where the first things she did was take a one hour long shower. After weeks of having no water in her house she is like a pig in mud now.

[DMikeS4321]

My wifes train was held for 5 hours in Jiangxi. The power had gone out in the city. Imagine all of those people sitting and standing in this huge train station in sub-freezing temperatures with no electricity and no heat. She finally made it to Shenzhen where the first things she did was take a one hour long shower. After weeks of having no water in her house she is like a pig in mud now.

 

Glad to hear things worked out for her, Charles. The only possible upside is that she wasn't stranded on a PLANE!!

[IllinoisDave]

The latest from the AP. Sorry I don't have a link, this is just off the wires.

The part about "chi ku" makes you just want to cry but the part about the dumplings does bring a smile.

 

By WILLIAM FOREMAN

Associated Press Writer

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers

desperate to get home for the Chinese New Year shivered in the cold

under a sea of umbrellas outside train stations Tuesday, as the

worst winter storms in half a century paralyzed China.

One of the world's biggest annual mass movements of humanity - a

record 178.6 million people, more than the population of Russia -

were expected to travel by train for the holiday, according to

railway officials' estimates.

Most of those stranded at train stations were migrant workers

trying to leave booming southern Guangdong province - often called

the world's factory floor because it makes everything from Honda

sedans to Apple iPods and Nike sneakers.

In China, the New Year holiday, which begins Feb. 7, is as

important as Christmas is in the West. For most migrant workers,

it's the only time of the year when they can visit their hometowns,

and they often take a month off to feast with their families and

perform a series of rituals.

The extreme weather showed no signs of letting up Tuesday, with

cities blacked out, highways closed because of treacherous

conditions and trains canceled. A bus crash on an icy road killed

at least 25 people - the worst accident since the blizzards began.

The 35-seat bus slid off an icy mountain road and plunged 40 yards

into a valley in Guizhou province, according to the State

Administration of Work Safety.

Huge red banners hanging at the train station in the provincial

capital, Guangzhou, urged migrant workers to cancel plans to return

home, cash in their tickets and return to their factory

dormitories. About 200,000 people took the advice and got ticket

refunds, railway officials said, while about 200,000 others stayed

at the station, milling around in a bone-chilling drizzle.

Thousands stood under umbrellas that formed a huge canopy in the

train station's plaza, while a larger crowd huddled beneath a

highway overpass in front of the station hoping to catch a train.

But the busy Beijing-Guangzhou line may not return to normal for

three to five days, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Wang Jigen was one of many workers who couldn't cash in his

ticket because he had no place to go. The 50-year-old day laborer

left his job before the holiday and couldn't afford to stay in a

hotel until the trains begin running again to his home in the

western province of Sichuan.

"I spent last night outside at a bus depot," said Wang,

dressed in a ragged sweater and a dusty olive corduroy coat. "I

have no idea where I'll sleep tonight or how I'll ever get home."

Just blocks from the station, migrants converged on an emergency

shelter in the China Import and Export Fair exhibition center - a

complex the size of three or four football fields. The place was

packed with travelers sitting on their luggage. Free water bottles

were being passed around, and lunch boxes of rice, chicken legs and

cabbage were being sold for about $1.

The general mood seemed calm and stoic - in line with the

traditional Chinese trait of "chi ku" or "eating bitterness,"

enduring hardship without complaint. But legions of police and

soldiers were ready for any disorder, and the nation's leaders

scrambled to show the public that they were on the case.

State broadcaster CCTV showed Premier Wen Jiabao meeting

officials telling stranded travelers at the Changsha train station

in central Hunan province that the trains would start again soon.

"Let me express my apologies for you all having been stuck

here," Wen said through a megaphone to a huddled crowd that

cheered and applauded.

But the nation's top leader, President Hu Jintao, warned of more

bad weather and urged officials "be aware of the seriousness of

the situation and be fully prepared to prevent and fight

disasters."

So far, the central government has given a total $17 million in

aid to six provinces and one region battered by the winter weather,

Xinhua said. Expressways were shut down in the nation's financial

capital, Shanghai, because snow and sleet made them a slushy

treacherous mess.

In southwest China's Guizhou province, wild macaques at the

Qianling wildlife park huddled together trying to keep warm on

ice-encrusted tree branches.

Spending the holiday in Guangdong was a painful thought for Wang

Yusheng, a 33-year-old salesman from the central province of Henan.

He nibbled on a chicken wing outside Guangzhou's station as he

slowly gave up hope of going home. His backup plan was to spend the

holiday where he works in the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

"We in the North eat dumplings during the holiday, but people

in the South don't," said Wang. "Southern food really tastes

terrible. It's really going to be different celebrating the New

Year here."

[rogerluli]

It sure is a shame for these hard-working people to have this happen at the worst possible time...

[IllinoisDave]

It sure is a shame for these hard-working people to have this happen at the worst possible time...

 

Puts into perspective being delayed a few hours over the holidays here.

Edited January 29, 2008 by IllinoisDave (see edit history)

[Zhen's Tiger]

Does anyone know if a train from Jiangxi to Shenzhen stops at Guangzhou? My wife left from Jiujiang in Jiangxi headed to Shenzhen over 2 days ago and I haven't been able to reach her cell phone. I am a bit worried.

It seems her cell phone number has changed somehow.

Glad to hear she's alright! If she's anything like my wife, she's got one (or more) SIM cards that she'll swap out into her phone depending on where she is for the cost factor, which is most likely why her number has changed.

[chilton747]

My wifes train was held for 5 hours in Jiangxi. The power had gone out in the city. Imagine all of those people sitting and standing in this huge train station in sub-freezing temperatures with no electricity and no heat. She finally made it to Shenzhen where the first things she did was take a one hour long shower. After weeks of having no water in her house she is like a pig in mud now.

 

Glad to hear things worked out for her, Charles. The only possible upside is that she wasn't stranded on a PLANE!!

 

You reckon that the plane would leave the APU on for that length of time? Or would they even turn it on at all? I know they like to save fuel.