Villagers find only cold comfort in recalling a winter as harsh

The elderly of Zhangjia still recall the winter of 1951 as the worst ever to affect the village near the border of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces , but this year's snowstorms will certainly win a place in the collective memory.

Zhang Mouhai , 80, mends his fishing net and wonders when he will be able to pull carp again from his ice-covered pond. He recalled another winter nearly 60 years ago when the temperature dropped to minus 18 degrees Celsius.

'The ice was so thick then, a man carrying a hundred pound sack could walk across,' he said.

This year, the pond is frozen again and Mr Zhang hopes the fish are still alive. The winter vegetable crops, beets and cabbage, are covered with snow. Villagers don't heat their homes - a tradition south of the Yangtze River - so they stay warm with only padded cotton jackets.

Although the village is near Nanjing , two snowstorms have left it nearly cut off. Workers have cleared a narrow track on a nearby road, but the journey to the village must be finished on foot or a treacherous ride by motorised tricycle.

'We don't know when the snow will stop,' an elderly woman said. 'We can't do anything about it.'