Bullet trains from Beijing to Wuhan, Xi'an and Handan were also affected, and those passing through Henan and Sichuan provinces were either delayed or canceled.

Passengers have been told they can get a refund on their tickets without a service charge within 30 days. The network operator, China Railway Corp, said it is also organizing workers to repair equipment and guarantee services.

Bus services have also been disrupted. In Nanjing, drivers with less than three years of experience were removed from duty on Thursday, with only veteran drivers allowed to helm city buses.

Highways were closed in Jiangsu, Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces. Nine airports across China also experienced large-scale delays, while two - in Shandong province's Jining and Anhui's Fuyang - were closed.

Some cities have suspended classes at kindergartens and schools. Hefei, the capital of Anhui, has opted to close schools from Friday to Wednesday.

The ceilings of several bus stations in Hefei collapsed on Thursday morning, causing at least one death and more than 10 injuries.

"The stations have been cordoned off and bus company workers have been sent to clean the snow from other ceilings," an employee surnamed Zhang with the Hefei bus company said.

Jia Jianyin, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, said compared with northern China, the snow in other areas - including Nanjing - melts faster due to the higher land surface temperature.

"The snow in the north is also thicker due to its dry air," she said. "The snow in cities will melt quickly due to the urban heat island effect."

The National Meteorological Center lifted the orange alert at 6 pm on Thursday, saying fewer areas will see heavy snow on Thursday night and Friday.

Zhou Lihua and Zhu Lixin contributed to this story.