As millions of people struggle to get home for the Spring Festival holiday, Luo Song, 30, is taking things easy.

He is one of the thousands of passengers stranded in this city who have given up hope of joining their families for holiday reunions and are instead planning to enjoy the New Year celebration where they are.

"I will definitely miss my family and want to go home, but given the bad weather and the potential risks if I take a bus, I'd rather stay here in Shanghai," Luo, a consultant at Det Norske Veritas, said.

"I've persuaded people from my home to stay, and we're going to make it a happy new year," he said. "Shanghai is not exactly new to us."

A quick look at the more popular Web boards shows that Luo is not that the only one to have shaken off the travel blues in favor of anticipation for the New Year celebrations.

But there are others, such as Zhao Guangcai, a migrant worker, who still hold out hope for a miracle.

Zhao spent last night in an underground garage near the railway station the authorities had outfitted to accommodate passengers stranded by train delays and cancellations.

"I have no choice but to wait here since the roads to Henan are also closed," he said.

Heavy snow has led to the closure of all highways connecting Shanghai to nearby cities, and at least 2,000 buses have been cancelled, highway authorities said.

Shanghai railway authorities on Monday announced the cancellation of all the long distance trains scheduled to depart before Thursday.

Fortunately for Zhao and other migrant workers like him, the municipal government is planning to provide the happiest possible New Year party in Shanghai should the situation not improve.

Sun Jianping, deputy director of Shanghai urban construction and communications, said an emergency plan had been drawn up to provide accommodation for the workers, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

"Something should be done to ensure that migrant workers feel at home during the lunar new year festival," Sun was quoted as saying.

In response to such calls, some construction companies in the city have extended invitations to their lunar new year's Eve dinners to the families of migrant workers.

(China Daily January 31, 2008)