Thousands of tourists were stranded and the provincial airport closed after unusually heavy snow in Yunnan province.
The heaviest snowfall in ten years on Sunday hit the provincial capital Kunming, known as the “Spring City” for its mild weather throughout the year.
More than 1,400 people were trapped on the road between the cities of Lijiang and Dali, two popular tourist destinations, for 20 hours with no food as rescue vehicles could not get through to the mountainous area, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Many tourists were at first excited to see the snow before they realised they were stuck in traffic with no village in sight. Some people had walked as far as three kilometres to buy food from nearby villagers before their buses could eventually leave on Sunday afternoon, the newspaper said.