国内英语新闻:Blizzards, accidents dampen Chinese New Year spirits

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- It's supposed to be a time of family reunions, new year greetings and fireworks, but blizzards and accidents on Wednesday put a damper on the Chinese New Year.

The country is experiencing the peak travel period with millions of people are eager to get away from tough jobs to go home for the most important Chinese holiday, which falls on Sunday. The mass movement of people is the largest human migration on the earth.

In the southern Guangdong Province, China's business hub, about 100,000 migrant workers are expected to ride motorcycles to go home to neighboring Hunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, to avoid train jams and high train ticket prices.

"It will be a tiring 10-hour motorcycle ride, but I can save a lot of money by not taking a train," said a migrant worker surnamed Huang who set off at 6 a.m. Wednesday for his home in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Traffic police set up more than a dozen rest areas along major national highways so workers could warm their hands, drink some hot tea and repair their motorcycles before continuing their trip.

Railway stations across the country have been crowded with millions of migrant workers carrying belongings and trying to buy tickets home. For some, this is the one chance they have per year to return home with gifts for their family. The railways are expected to carry 210 million passengers during the 40-day travel period that began January 30.

But a blizzard that hit at least six provinces and regions in northern China Tuesday and Wednesday has disrupted tens of thousands of homecoming trips.

Railway authorities say trains will slow down once fresh snow measures 40 cm. Train service will be halted if the snow depth exceeds 50 cm.

The Ministry of Transport said at least 24 expressways were closed nationwide amid heavy snow by Wednesday morning in the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan, as well as in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Besides the bad weather, traffic accidents caused by the crush of people and tired driving are straining the nerves of passengers and government officials.

More than 600 traffic accidents occurred in the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region between Tuesday and Wednesday. No casualties were reported, said the regional traffic police.

In Gansu Province, nine people were killed and another 24 injured after a bus with 33 passengers veered off the road and fell into a ravine Wednesday morning near Longnan City.

More than 270,000 police have been busy trying to keep order on the roads, cracking down on speeding, overloading and other offences, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The holiday is also an annual headache for authorities as workshops, mostly illegal and poorly run, are speeding up production of fireworks, a must have item when celebrating the Spring Festival.

Three people died and another two were injured Wednesday after a blast in a fireworks plant in Anshun City in southwest China's Guizhou Province.