As the Chinese Lunar New Year hoilday ended Tuesday, waves of Chinese residents began their journey back to work, as they boarded trains, airplanes and buses.

The China Meteorological Administration announced Tuesday that a cold front would cause temperatures to fall by 4 to 12 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country, while some areas in the northwest, north and southwest will see rainfall or snow from Wednesday to Friday.

Fleets of motorbikes carrying thousands of migrant workers passed through national roads again on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Public Security said it set up 8,300 service stations along the country's major highways to provide free food, medicine, and rest stops for motor-riding migrant workers. The stations also sent police cars to clear the way for large groups of motorists.

Chen Tianchong, a migrant worker from Muge County, Guigang City of southwest China' s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and 38 of his fellow migrant worker started their journey on motorcycles at 4:30 a.m. on the foggy National Road 324, which is a 2,712-kilometer road linking five provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunan in southern China.

A motorcycle usually carried two people, often a couple, sometimes with a child sandwiched in between. They would wrap themselves in thick outerwear to battle the cold weather at night. Limited access to cheap public transportation had forced many migrant workers to make their trips home on their own.

"I promised my boss that I would go back to the factory in Guangdong before Wednesday," said Chen.