Lunar New Year travel in China is never for the faint of heart. A spell of bad weather has made the long trip home particularly arduous for many travelers this year.

More than 100,000 people were stuck at the Guangzhou Railway Station in southern China on Monday after rain and snow in the northern part of the country delayed large numbers of trains, according to Chinese media reports.

By early Tuesday morning, some 34,000 travelers remained at the station, the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily reported. At Guangzhou’s East Railway Station, train delays stranded another 22,500, the paper said. In China's financial hub Shanghai, meanwhile, more than 30,000 people were stuck at the Hongqiao Railway Station after 60 trains were delayed, the city's online news outlet The Paper reported. The Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, falls on Feb. 8 this year. About 2.9 billion trips are expected to be made between Feb. 24 and Mar. 3 as Chinese return to their hometowns for the holiday, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency. In the past -- such as in 2008, when winter storms left some 5.8 million rail passengers stranded during the Lunar New Year rush -- long delays have led to scuffles (or worse) among frustrated travelers. There have been no such reports so far this year -- although the peak travel period is only beginning. --Felicia Sonmez. Follow her on Twitter @feliciasonmez. Scroll down for more photos and videos of Lunar New Year travelers in cities across China: Passengers wait to enter a railway station after trains were delayed due to bad weather in southern China in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, February 1, 2016. Illustration: Reuters/China Daily In this Feb. 1, 2016 photo, policemen direct stranded passengers outside the Guangzhou Railway Station after trains were delayed as they prepare going back to their hometown for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. Illustration: Associated Press Passengers wait to board trains at the Guangzhou Railway Station in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 2, 2016. Illustration: Zuma Press Passengers ask for refunds on their tickets at a counter inside a railway station after trains were delayed due to heavy snow, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, February 1, 2016. Illustration: Reuters/China Daily A man carries his sack as he walks towards the Beijing Railway Station during the travel rush ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival in Beijing, China, February 2, 2016. Illustration: Reuters A passenger enters the waiting hall at the Beijing West Railway Station, in Beijing, China, February 1, 2016. Illustration: Reuters

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