Millions of Chinese are likely to spend the biggest holiday of the year without power and water after more than a week of wild winter weather that shut down transport links across large parts of the country.
The freezing weather in the run-up to the Lunar New Year break, which begins on Wednesday and offers the only chance for many poor migrant workers to visit loved ones, has killed scores of people.
Railways and highways were returning to normal across China on Tuesday but millions are still trying to catch trains, planes and buses to see family in what is normally one of the greatest annual migrations of humanity. Millions more have given up making the journey home.