DMikeS4321 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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). Link to comment
GZBILL Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
chilton747 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
chilton747 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
GZBILL Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
Shadowman Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
GZBILL Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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? Link to comment
rogerluli Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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... Link to comment
chilton747 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
DMikeS4321 Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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!! Link to comment
IllinoisDave Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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 FOREMANAssociated Press Writer GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of migrant workersdesperate to get home for the Chinese New Year shivered in the coldunder a sea of umbrellas outside train stations Tuesday, as theworst winter storms in half a century paralyzed China. One of the world's biggest annual mass movements of humanity - arecord 178.6 million people, more than the population of Russia -were expected to travel by train for the holiday, according torailway officials' estimates. Most of those stranded at train stations were migrant workerstrying to leave booming southern Guangdong province - often calledthe world's factory floor because it makes everything from Hondasedans to Apple iPods and Nike sneakers. In China, the New Year holiday, which begins Feb. 7, is asimportant 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 andperform a series of rituals. The extreme weather showed no signs of letting up Tuesday, withcities blacked out, highways closed because of treacherousconditions and trains canceled. A bus crash on an icy road killedat least 25 people - the worst accident since the blizzards began.The 35-seat bus slid off an icy mountain road and plunged 40 yardsinto a valley in Guizhou province, according to the StateAdministration of Work Safety. Huge red banners hanging at the train station in the provincialcapital, Guangzhou, urged migrant workers to cancel plans to returnhome, cash in their tickets and return to their factorydormitories. About 200,000 people took the advice and got ticketrefunds, railway officials said, while about 200,000 others stayedat the station, milling around in a bone-chilling drizzle. Thousands stood under umbrellas that formed a huge canopy in thetrain station's plaza, while a larger crowd huddled beneath ahighway overpass in front of the station hoping to catch a train.But the busy Beijing-Guangzhou line may not return to normal forthree to five days, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Wang Jigen was one of many workers who couldn't cash in histicket because he had no place to go. The 50-year-old day laborerleft his job before the holiday and couldn't afford to stay in ahotel until the trains begin running again to his home in thewestern 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. "Ihave no idea where I'll sleep tonight or how I'll ever get home." Just blocks from the station, migrants converged on an emergencyshelter in the China Import and Export Fair exhibition center - acomplex the size of three or four football fields. The place waspacked with travelers sitting on their luggage. Free water bottleswere being passed around, and lunch boxes of rice, chicken legs andcabbage were being sold for about $1. The general mood seemed calm and stoic - in line with thetraditional Chinese trait of "chi ku" or "eating bitterness,"enduring hardship without complaint. But legions of police andsoldiers were ready for any disorder, and the nation's leadersscrambled to show the public that they were on the case. State broadcaster CCTV showed Premier Wen Jiabao meetingofficials telling stranded travelers at the Changsha train stationin central Hunan province that the trains would start again soon. "Let me express my apologies for you all having been stuckhere," Wen said through a megaphone to a huddled crowd thatcheered and applauded. But the nation's top leader, President Hu Jintao, warned of morebad weather and urged officials "be aware of the seriousness ofthe situation and be fully prepared to prevent and fightdisasters." So far, the central government has given a total $17 million inaid to six provinces and one region battered by the winter weather,Xinhua said. Expressways were shut down in the nation's financialcapital, Shanghai, because snow and sleet made them a slushytreacherous mess. In southwest China's Guizhou province, wild macaques at theQianling wildlife park huddled together trying to keep warm onice-encrusted tree branches. Spending the holiday in Guangdong was a painful thought for WangYusheng, a 33-year-old salesman from the central province of Henan.He nibbled on a chicken wing outside Guangzhou's station as heslowly gave up hope of going home. His backup plan was to spend theholiday where he works in the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. "We in the North eat dumplings during the holiday, but peoplein the South don't," said Wang. "Southern food really tastesterrible. It's really going to be different celebrating the NewYear here." Link to comment
rogerluli Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 It sure is a shame for these hard-working people to have this happen at the worst possible time... Link to comment
IllinoisDave Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 (edited) 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) Link to comment
Zhen's Tiger Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 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. Link to comment
chilton747 Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 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. Link to comment
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