VZCZCXRO4726
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0051 0300800
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300800Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6832
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN SOCI PGOV ELAB ECON CH
SUBJECT: Bad Weather Making It Hard on Stranded Guangzhou Train 
Travelers 
 
REF: GUANGZHOU 0048 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: As many as 200,000 stranded passengers continue to 
wait at the main Guangzhou train station with most standing outside 
or seeking shelter in nearby buildings.  Despite deteriorating 
weather conditions, the majority of travelers do not seem dissuaded 
from continuing their homeward travel over the Chinese New Year.  No 
new incidents of public disturbance have been reported, and Premier 
Wen Jiabao visited the train station to observe conditions and speak 
with local leaders.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Conditions worsened for the estimated 200,000 people who 
remain stranded at the city's main train station.  Officials believe 
travel for nearly 800,000 rail, air and bus passengers has been 
disrupted throughout Guangdong province.  In Guangzhou, periodic 
heavy rains and colder temperatures have contributed to the 
atmosphere of fatigue and frustration, especially for thousands who 
continue to wait outside the station.  Police officers have blocked 
off the plaza immediately in front of the station; huge crowds have 
moved to positions underneath a highway overpass outside Railway 
Station Square. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Although local media reported numbers outside the square 
declining on January 30 to 23,000, Congenoffs who twice visited the 
station over the past 24 hours judged the area to be more crowded 
and densely packed with people.  Police presence continues to keep 
the crowds orderly with officers dispersed throughout.  A heavy 
cordon of security personnel are in position at barriers in front of 
all station entrances.  Local media had reported a major disturbance 
on January 29th; however, Congenoffs confirmed that the incident had 
actually occurred the previous day, in part explaining the 
significant police numbers observed yesterday. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Local media reports have also indicated that 60,000 people 
among the stranded passengers are sheltered in the Liuhua Convention 
Center, three blocks south of the train station.  Congenoffs who 
visited the site on January 30 observed it to be much more crowded 
than the previous day.  Water and food are still available for sale 
at reasonable prices.  In spite of some efforts to collect garbage, 
floors in the building were dirty, and no provision for cots or 
sleeping arrangements had been made; many people sat or slept on 
newspapers, or the bare floor. 
 
¶5. (U) Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in the city on the morning of 
January 30, and met with officials from the Ministry of Railways, 
Guangdong PSB, and other agencies. Local media reported that Premier 
Wen instructed local authorities to help ensure the supply of 
electric power and food for stranded passengers. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Although authorities continue to encourage passengers to 
cash in rail tickets and return home, many remain determined to 
complete their travel plans.  Local government and businesses have 
reportedly offered assistance in returning tickets, including cash 
bonuses for workers willing to stay; and a local newspaper reported 
that as of Tuesday, 8,000 stranded passengers had used free 
transportation to return to their work place, giving up their travel 
plans.  However, a group of three young men and one woman told 
Congenoffs that even though they had waited at the train station for 
five days, they were still determined to travel back to their home 
province and see their families. 
 
GOLDBERG