Heavy snow that began falling Tuesday morning throughout eastern and central China posed a challenge but did little to shrink the crowds of holiday travelers returning to the cities on the last day of the week-long Spring Festival holiday.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese who took to the roads for family reunions or sightseeing over the holiday braved the bad weather to head back to work in the major cities and coastal areas.

Even in east China's Zhejiang Province, where snow is a rarity, the holiday week was ushered out amid rain and snow that may last until the end of the week.

The Ministry of Communications, which is responsible for ground transportation in China, issued a directive to railways, highway departments, shipping organizations to provide sound service and safe operations in the bad weather.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation issued a notice to prepare to launch emergency traffic measures.

An estimated 800,000 traffic administration workers are clearing snow and checking the safety of transportation facilities.

In Beijing, local traffic departments used 550 tons of urea and similar melting agents on major avenues and sent out 269 vehicles to clean slippery roads.

Traffic on the Tianjin section of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu expressway and the Beijing-Shijiazhuang expressway were suspended for hours due to snow.

In Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, more than 3,000 passengers were detained in the local airport on Monday afternoon, when the city encountered heavy snow a day earlier than other places. The city is expecting flurries on Thursday and heavier falls on Friday.

Railway passengers are faring better in the bad weather, with 210,000 passengers arriving in Beijing on Tuesday, an increase of 10,000 from Monday.

Some 240,000 people returned to Shanghai on trains Tuesday, nearly double the official arrival numbers on Monday.

Long-distance bus services set new records on Monday and Tuesday. Some 137,582 vehicles were recorded entering Beijing yesterday, most of them carrying migrant workers from neighboring provinces.

Meteorologists expect cold, rain, snow and wind to affect most of China intermittently during the next 10 days.