Weather freezes Spring Festival travel

BEIJING - Freezing weather in Central and South China has disrupted the beginning of the annual Spring Festival travel rush, with temperatures reaching their lowest since 1961 in Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei provinces.

A Ministry of Transport report on Wednesday said an expressway, seven national highways and 36 provincial highways were closed because of heavy snow and sleet in Chongqing municipality and Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui, Hunan and Hubei provinces.

Railway traffic has increased in parts of Guizhou and Hunan provinces because heavy snow has delayed other modes of transportation, the Ministry of Railways said.