Heavy snowfall slowed commutes around Hebei province on Friday, including buses loaded with hundreds of workers that were stalled outside the gates to a closed expressway. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

Heavy snowfall slowed commutes around Hebei province on Friday, including buses loaded with hundreds of workers that were stalled outside the gates to a closed expressway.

Li Ran, a power plant worker in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, said she was stuck for hours in a bus headed for Xibaipo Power Plant in Pingshan county. There were at least 15 buses in a similar predicament, she said.

"It’s been four hours, and I am still here blocked on roads deep in snow, " said Li, who had left home about 6:40 on Friday morning.

In addition to snow, strong winds also invaded the province, driving temperatures down to some of the coldest days of the winter. The Hebei Provincial Meteorological Bureau issued a cold alert on Thursday, predicting temperatures for most cities would fall to about 8 C until Sunday.

Temperatures in Bashang, north of Hebei, typically the coldest place in the province, were to drop to minus 38 C.

Shijiazhuang was hit by a heavy snowfall on Friday morning, leaving an accumulation of about five centimeters. Commuters like Li, whose bus had to take alternative roads to Pingshan, took hours to arrive at their destinations.

The Xibaipo plant, which supplies power and heating to local residents, must be staffed so electricity and heat can be provided to residents.

"It never shuts down during bad weather and we have to go to work no matter how bad the weather is, " Li said.

Li Sen, a shift worker at another power plant in Jingxing county of Shijiazhuang, said on Friday morning that he couldn’t go home from a night shift because the snow had cut off the mountain roads.

"The day shift cannot come to work either, so we have to continue working," Li Sen said.