Shanghai Daily news

Planes, trains, automobiles, power and food supples, medical emergencies, collapsed buildings and frustrated would-be holiday-makers ... Shanghai's biggest snow in 24 years is making an unforgettable and expensive impression.

There has already been one death after three days of snow and a heavy fall hit the city as Shanghai Daily went to press early this morning.

Most of the flights in and out of Pudong International Airport were delayed yesterday. Many domestic flights at Hongqiao Airport were also delayed or canceled.

It was all hands on deck as airport staff applied the hoses, brooms and shovels in a bid to clear the snow.

Thirteen buildings had caved in across the city up until last night. The single fatality occurred when a house collapsed in Jiading District.

Long-distance bus travel is at a standstill as major expressways out of Shanghai have been closed for safety reasons, stranding thousands of people trying to make it home for Spring Festival holidays, which officially begin on February 7.

Many turned to trains as a second choice but found no joy there either, with services canceled as at least 14 provinces - and rail lines - are blanketed in snow under blizzard conditions.

The city rail authority has stopped selling tickets for points both north and south.

And while the three-day fall is definitely the heaviest since 1984, city weather officials believe if it continues, the snow could be the biggest in the city since record-keeping began.

Shipping at the mouth of the Yangtze River has also been affected, with almost 100 vessels stranded.

Shanghai's power, gas and water supplies are under siege, with burst pipes, overload from air-conditioners and heaters and river coal supplies for electricity held up.

The Shanghai Medical Emergency Center has received 700 calls for ambulances each day since late last week.

Hospitals reported a huge increase in admissions. "The number of patients we saw injured after falls tripled ... we treated 40 for fractures, most of them young people going to work,'' said Dr Pan Shuming, of Xinhua Hospital's emergency department.

Even the post office is finding it hard to cope, with major delivery delays.And just to add insult to injury, food prices are soaring.