Rains and snow in the three days January 19-21 is likely to pose more difficulties for China's transportation system, already burdened by students and migrant workers returning home for the traditional Spring Festival holiday.

Cold air will influence most of central east China, causing light to moderate rain in areas along or south of the Yangtze River, and also snow, or rain and snow in parts of north China.

Also, from January 19 to January 21, fog will hit parts of southern China. Visibility in the Sichuan basin will be below 1,000 meters, and even below 500 meters in some areas, said the National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Monday.

Major transportation centers including Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing will be hit.

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport was forced to close for more than five hours on January 18 by thick fog, stranding about 10,000 passengers.

The Ministry of Railways expects a traffic peak on January 21 and said it had emergency plans for bad weather to ensure trains keep running during the Spring Festival.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)