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Guangzhou: First, the food aboard the train ran out, then the water. What began as a 36-hour train trip for Edward Wang became an ordeal lasting nearly twice that long.
He described fighting among drunken passengers and staff armed with knives, fears of being robbed by those desperate for food, and breathing air so foul that some people became dizzy.
Wang, 25, rode the rails as China's worst blizzards and ice storms in five decades caused havoc during the nation's busiest travel period, the Chinese New Year. At least 60 people have died, thousands of vehicles were stranded on highways, rail travel was severely disrupted, and damage has been estimated at $7.5 billion.
State-run television and newspapers have painted an inspiring picture of people coping with the disaster - soldiers chipping ice off highways, and train conductors using snow to clean toilets on idled trains. Passengers were shown smiling as they looked out of train windows.
But Wang, an English teacher tells a different tale.
He said the crisis brought out the worst in China's system during what turned out to be a 61-hour journey from the southern city of Guangzhou to his hometown of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province.
Wang said train staff reverted to the communist habit of blocking bad news, refusing to say why the train was stalled on the tracks for up to 10 hours at a time.
"I didn't mind getting stuck on the train, but the way they were treating people was terrible," said Wang, who insisted on using his English name because he feared he might run afoul of the authorities for his criticism.
"The conductor didn't make any announcements," he said by phone from his parents' home. "We didn't know what was happening. They should have tried to comfort the people, but they said nothing."
When he tried to take photos, he said "the conductor came over to me and said, 'Who are you? Are you a journalist? You're going to have to delete these pictures'."
His train left Guangzhou at 8.45pm on January 25. Two hours later, the train stopped in the city of Shaoguan - where it was stuck for 10 hours, Wang said.
Food on the train ran out after the first day and nothing was being sold on the station platforms, he said. Usually, hawkers will offer instant noodles, hard-boiled eggs, spicy tofu or other snacks.
"I guess there were 600 trains ahead of us, and everything was sold out," he said.
The water also quickly ran out. "We didn't wash our face or brush our teeth for two days because there was no water left," he said. "We didn't get more water until the third day."
Some passengers drank beer or the popular, fiery "bai jiu" liquor sold by the train staff, Wang said. A few got drunk, barged into the packed dining car, and demanded food.
Fighting broke out, Wang said. "The cooks had knives and the passengers had broomsticks. There were no injuries, though, just pushing and shoving and neck-grabbing," he said.
When the staff finally procured some lunch boxes with rice at a stop, they doubled the usual price to $2.80 (Dh10).
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