This week it has snowed more in Nanjing than it has in 50 years. It has taken the city totally by surprise. The entire country has been blown into a frenzy with snow and bad weather. Trains have been shut down, electricity outs, shortages on food and gasoline in many areas. It has happened at the worst time possible with Chinese New Year starting and everyone wanting to get home to their families. That is what you do for Chinese New Year. You go home to see family. They say numbers equivilant of the population of England, Germany, and France together, travel all at once. For many migrant workers it is the ONLY chance in a year they get to go home to see their family members. Many Fathers and Mothers work in a different city and see their children once a year. Thousands of people have been stranded at train stations, in buses on freeways, etc. Here in Nanjing, thankfully, we have only been inconvenienced. The children have been home from school all week. They told employees at Mike's work to stay home Monday and Tuesday. Taxis have been impossible to get. This morning, our driver spent two hours driving around the city to try to find gasoline. He then waited in line for 2 hours to get it.
We will be heading out to Bali and Jakarta Indonesia on Monday. We are really looking forward to seeing our great friends, the Millers. We are pretty excited about the whole trip. It's snowing now, but supposed to stop tomorrow morning. We have train tickets to Shanghai where our flight originates from, in case the freeway is shut down. It will definately be an adventure.
I thought I would share a few photos of the Nanjing airport when it snowed. Give it to them for creativity! We got these off of their websight. Also, I'm adding a couple more snow photos.
This shows about how much snow we got in one 24 hour period. It's been so mild here before now, that you can see the poor blossoms got a shock.
Here are a couple of common scenes in Nanjing. The first is in the department store. Free movies in the TV section! The second photo shows the unlucky guy who got to sit in the back on a COLD day!
