Premier Wen Jiabao speaks to weather- stranded passengers at Changsha Railway Station in central China's Hunan Province on January 29. He promised the homebound vacationers that they would all be able to unite with their families at the Spring Festival, the most important celebration for the Chinese nation.

The Chinese Government started an emergency disaster-relief program at the end of January to focus on restoring the transportation paralyzed by snowstorms in central, east and south China since January 10. Millions of people travel throughout the country during this annual holiday period.

Heavy snow had killed 24 people and affected 77.86 million people in 14 provinces, according to official statistics on January 28.