Several clips over at CNN on TV illustrated how extremely bad weather — snowstorm — is adversely affecting transportation in China at the moment. With the Chinese New Year less than a week away, traffic is spiking in the southern part of China. Delays and cancellations of bus, train and airplane trips have brought traffic to a great halt. The system just cannot process the flow as fast as it needs to be.
The video showed a rowdy crowd with individuals pushing each other. If the congregation in Mecca is intimidating, the one in Guangzhou as depicted in the clips, China is many times frightening. Unlike in Mecca, the crowd in the video was hostile as chaos started to reign in. If news of stampede broke out, it would not catch by me surprise.
The presence of police officers seemed to fail to placate the growingly nervous crowd. Without security personnel, it would have been anarchy. The Chinese government has advised its citizens to stay at home instead of traveling to celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year but the people is not listening.[1] If the situation goes on unmitigated, it would not be hard to imagine how this crisis would grow to threaten stability in China.
That is not the only ill effect of the worst snowstorm in 50 years. Prices have shot up as the weather hurts food production while electricity has been unceremoniously interrupted to many areas.[2][3] I have been through bad winters and I certainly will not want to experience this Chinese winter without heat.
All in all, somehow I feel if there is going to a some sort of turning point in China, this is it. The snowstorm has grown from merely logistics issue to that of economics and social. Potentially soon, politics too.
[1] — BEIJING, China (CNN) — China has taken the step of asking millions of migrant workers to forgo their annual Lunar New Year trip home, saying the worst winter weather in 50 years is expected to pummel the country for at least another three days. [China advises millions to abandon travel plans. CNN. January 31 2008][↩]
[2] — BEIJING (AP) — Snow battering central China has dealt an “extremely serious” blow to winter crops, a top agriculture official warned Thursday, raising the likelihood that future shortages would exaggerate already surging food prices. [China Warns of Serious Impact on Crops. AP via Google News. Christopher Bodeen. January 31 2008][↩]
[3] — Huge cities have plunged into darkness, with parts of Chenzhou, a city of 1.2 million in central Hunan province, without power for eight days. [Blizzard chaos costs China $7.5 billion. CNN. February 1 2008][↩]
