Army provides relief for Chinese stranded by snow
Main roads in northern China have been cleared of huge snow drifts to allow relief convoys to reach tens of thousands of stranded herders.
Troops are helping to deliver food, fuel, blankets and animal feed to Inner Mongolia, where 1.3 million people have been affected by the storm since New Year's Day.
Temperatures have dipped as low minus 40c in the vast pastoral region, about 186 miles north of Beijing.
Newspapers have reported that as many as 27 people have died in the worst affected region of Xilin Gol, although People's Daily has put the death toll at 23 with two others reported missing.
An official at Government offices in Inner Mongolia's capital Hohhot has declined to give figures for the number of dead and missing, saying authorities are still gathering information.
Government finance teams are assessing the damage to the local economy.
The People's Daily says more than 5,000 animals from herds have been killed by the snow and frigid temperatures, a serious blow to the rural economy of a region that suffered a record drought last summer.
Other reports say many more animals have died, and already prices for beef and mutton have risen by 20% in Beijing.
Herds have frozen standing up and people have died just yards from their doors in the two weeks since the storm.
Snow drifts as deep as six feet have cut off roads, slowing efforts to reach herders' homes, which are scattered across the vast grasslands.
