Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been battling heavy snow for most of this month. In many areas, road access has been cut off, and villagers are trapped. Local governments have been organizing relief and rescue work around the clock.

This little herding locale in Xinjiang has been stranded under snow for more than a month.

Stocks of daily necessities are now scarce for area inhabitants.

Soldiers and villagers worked for seven days and nights to clear the main road to the vicinity, before the first relief truck finally arrived on Sunday afternoon.

A local resident of Yelaman village said, "We've two bags of flour and 100 kilograms of forage. These are very important for us."

At other enclaves in different parts of the region, local governments are setting up relief distribution centers. Residents have been traveling as far as 30 kilometers to secure coal and flour, as well as feed for their sheep and cattle.

On Saturday night,a violent volley of whirling winds buried an entire sheep pen at a herder settlement in the town of Yegezitoubie.

Rescuers worked for over an hour, digging with shovels, and even their bare hands, to free more than 30 livestock.

Earlier in the day, seven people were trapped by an abrupt blizzard in the hamlet of Baiketuobie. Helicopters were dispatched to conduct recovery operations. Everyone was eventually saved.

(CCTV.com January 25, 2010)