Guangzhou (China), Jan. 31 (Reuters): Tens of thousands of Chinese massed impatiently near a railway station in Guangzhou today, desperate to get on trains home for a major holiday after days of delay caused by snow.

Tempers flared as families and migrant workers surged into the station two days after being urged to stay in the southern metropolis for the Lunar New Year holiday, the most important on the Chinese calendar.

For millions, this is their only chance to see family all year. “How do you expect us to get up there? What arrangements are in place?” Lai Lihua, a textile worker from the Guangxi region, adjoining Guangdong province, yelled at a policeman.

The officer could only repeat that people must wait until they could reach the platforms and board trains. “I have less information than you do,” he said.

China’s battle against brutal winter weather has spurred a propaganda push to try to comfort millions of cold, stranded and dismayed citizens, as more winter storms threatened many areas.

Snow, sleet and ice blanketing much of central, eastern and southern China have killed dozens, cut power and hobbled transport ahead of the holiday, which starts on Wednesday.

Throughout the day, thousands of people were lucky enough to cram into the dozens of trains that left Guangzhou and headed north. Station officials were busily arranging departures, and some said they had no idea how many trains had actually left.

At night, though, with temperatures hovering above freezing, a long stretch of road before the station remained covered with people trying to get into the station. Police set up cordons to prevent more from joining the already vast, dense mass.

As the government seeks to clear the transport chaos and ship food and coal to stricken areas, it has launched an intense media campaign to reassure citizens it can handle the hardships and prevent dismay from turning into unrest.

“After 30 years of reform and opening up, we’ve accumulated a strong material foundation and as long as we’re vigorously organised, we will be fully able to vanquish the current hardship,” Premier Wen Jiabao told officials in Guangzhou.

For party leaders, battling the natural disasters that regularly befall the vast country is a chance to reinforce the need for top-down rule. Floods in 1998 and other calamities provided opportunities for similar propaganda drives.

“When one place suffers misfortune, aid comes from all directions,” said the official People’s Daily.