Millions in China to greet new year without power

By Chris Buckley

KAILI, China (Reuters) – Railways and highways were returning to normal across China on Tuesday, but millions are likely to spend the biggest holiday of the year without power and water in what for some is the coldest winter in a century.
 

In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a convoy of trucks carrying coal heads to provinces hard-hit by snow and ice storms to increase coal supply and bring back power there from Erdos, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. The worst snowfall in decades beginning early January paralyzed cities in a part of the country.
(AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xin)

The freezing weather in the run-up to the Lunar New Year break, which begins on Wednesday and offers the only chance for poor migrant workers to visit loved ones, has killed scores of people and left millions stranded.
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Whole cities have had their power and water cut off for more than a week and so far 11 electricians have been killed trying to reconnect lines or break ice encasing poles and cables.

In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, soldiers climb the Jinggang Mountains in east China’s Jiangxi Province on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 as they are mobilized to fix power transmission lines damaged by heavy snow storms. The loss of power brought electric trains to a standstill, stranding more than 5 million holiday travelers.
(AP Photo/Xinhua, Dai Qingming)

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In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers a speech at a grand gathering in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day, which falls on Feb. 7 this year. Hu chaired the gathering of 4,000 people from various sections of society, Xinhua said.(AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xueren)