The emergence of China as an economic superpower

This time of the year is usually has a festive aura. For the many migrant workers in China who did not have a long and relaxing Thanksgiving nor Christmas, the Lunar New Year festival is the time of the year when workers go back home and reunite with their extended families to celebrate. Not this year in China. Dealing with the strangest weather in recent history, more than 200 million migrant workers were affected and had to abandon their travel plans home due to heavy snow.

Many Chinese had to say "sorry, but I won't be coming back this year" to their families ahead of the Year of the Rat. One reason why many could not go home was because the snowstorm in China came as an element of surprise that caught meteorologists and the government off guard. Over the past week, at least 100 million people were affected in their homes, leaving more than 60 dead. Transportation came to a halt for more than a week. Buses, trains and other modes of transport have only just returned to their normal schedules, but cannot deal with the massive passenger backlog.

One of the heaviest hit cities is Chenzhou of Hunan Province, where almost 4 million people have suffered from power and water shortages for 12 days. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been mobilized to restore electricity in the city, achieving significant progress as of yesterday. With 12 million plant and sweatshop workers staying in Guangdong, and 120 thousand workers staying in Shanghai this Chinese New Year, I give my sincere regrets to those who have suffered from this "strange ordeal" (as Edison Chen would say) and could not be with their families for the holidays.