By Royston Chan
CHENZHOU, China (Reuters) - The thunder of firecrackersushered in the Year of the Rat on Thursday, but millions ofChinese spent a cold holiday as repair teams fought to restorepower knocked out by the worst winter weather in a century.
China's leaders spent the eve of the Lunar New Year holidayin some of the worst-hit parts of south-central Chinacommiserating with residents and encouraging relief workers.
Premier Wen Jiabao was in the provinces of Jiangxi andGuizhou on his third tour of disaster areas in nine days. Hevisited one city that has been without electricity for threeweeks.
As well as mobilising more than a million soldiers andreservists to combat the snow and ice, the state has cranked upits propaganda machine to lift spirits for the most importantday in the calendar.
"When disaster struck, help came from all sides, whichindicated the superiority of China's socialism," the officialXinhua news agency quoted Wen as saying.
In Chenzhou, a city in the central province of Hunan thathas been one of the most badly affected areas, the lights weregradually coming back on after an 11-day blackout.
About 1,000 electricity pylons and poles have collapsedaround Chenzhou under the weight of ice and snow, effectivelydestroying the local power grid.
For Li Hua, 34, the power came back on just in time for herto prepare the traditional New Year's Eve meal for her family."I was so happy, and I felt so good when I was cooking thereunion dinner," she said.
Liu Mingwang was not so lucky. He is still without powerand water even though the local government headquarters, lessthan 100 metres (yards) away, has both.
"If they have electricity and we do not, that's reallyunfair. We should all be treated equally," Liu, 40, said.
Power is back in Zhao Yaqing's building but water is stillnot being pumped up to her fourth-floor apartment.
"Every day we carry five or six buckets of water up to ourhome from the fire hydrant. I hope the city government can dosomething about this. It's so inconvenient," Zhao, 45, said asshe washed clothes at a hydrant near her home.
THAWING OUT
State media reported that power had been restored partly orfully to 164 of 169 counties battered by blizzards across vastswathes of central, southern and eastern China -- parts of thecountry simply not prepared for severe winter weather.
Scores died in snow-related accidents in the run-up to theholiday, but the weather improved in time to enable tens ofmillions to make it home by road and rail in what is thebiggest annual migration on Earth.
On Wednesday alone, as a severe-weather alert was lifted,the rail network carried 2.54 million passengers, thegovernment said. Highways were back to normal and only oneairport, in Guizhou, was closed.
But the break in the weather came too late for millions ofpoor migrant workers who had no choice but to spend the holidayat the factories that have made China the workshop of theworld.
The economic planning agency said nearly 2,300 mines wereworking through the holidays to rebuild coal stocks that weredepleted as snow and ice snarled the railways. As of Tuesday,state-owned power stations had 10 days' supply, it said.
President Hu Jintao visited the autonomous region ofGuangxi in the south where state television showed him helpingsoldiers load food and other aid on to a helicopter.
"If we are united as one, working in strength, we canovercome the current difficulties and ensure victory allround," he said.
The deafening sound of firecrackers will reverberate acrossChina for much of the next 10 days. Xinhua reported that oneperson had been killed in Beijing and 75 injured setting offfireworks.
(Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by David Fox)