Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Associated Press Photo A passenger looks out from the train near Chenzhou in China's southern Hunan province Monday. The city of four million has been without electricity for 10 days.

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - First, the food aboard the train ran out, then the water.

When record blizzards hit China last month, what began as a 36-hour train trip for Edward Wang became an ordeal lasting nearly twice that long.

He described fighting among drunken passengers and staff armed with knives, fears of being robbed by those desperate for food, and breathing air so foul that some people became dizzy.

Wang, 25, rode the rails as China's worst blizzards and ice storms in five decades caused havoc during the nation's busiest travel period, the Chinese New Year. At least 60 people have died, thousands of vehicles were stranded on highways, rail travel was severely disrupted, and damage has been estimated at $7.5 billion.

State-run television and newspapers have painted an inspiring picture of people coping with the disaster‚ soldiers chipping ice off highways, and train conductors using snow to clean toilets on idled trains. Passengers were shown smiling as they looked out of train windows.

But Wang, an English teacher tells a different tale.

He said the crisis brought out the worst in China's system during what turned out to be a 61-hour journey from the southern city of Guangzhou to his hometown of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province.

Wang said train staff reverted to the communist habit of blocking bad news, refusing to say why the train was stalled on the tracks for up to 10 hours at a time.

"I didn't mind getting stuck on the train, but the way they were treating people was terrible," said Wang, who insisted on using his English name because he feared he might run afoul of the authorities for his criticism.

"The conductor didn't make any announcements," he said by phone from his parents' home.

"We didn't know what was happening. They should have tried to comfort the people, but they said nothing."

When he tried to take photos, he said, "the conductor came over to me and said, 'Who are you? Are you a journalist? You're going to have to delete these pictures.'"

His train left Guangzhou at 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 25. Two hours later, the train stopped in the city of Shaoguan‚ where it was stuck for 10 hours, Wang said.

Food on the train ran out after the first day and nothing was being sold on the station platforms, he said. Usually, hawkers will offer instant noodles, hard-boiled eggs, spicy tofu or other snacks.

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