Cancellations of Chinese New Year holiday tours to the mainland have begun.

And ticket refunds will come at a price.

Starting yesterday and going through Saturday, about 30 scheduled trips to the snow-covered cities of Changsha and Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province have all been canceled, affecting plans for around 700 travelers.

The decision was announced by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong after it held an emergency meeting yesterday.

Council Executive Director Joseph Tung relayed the group's decision afterward.

But instead of offering passengers a full refund and 15 percent of the tour fee - as outlined in the council's own guidelines - Tung said the board decided that the travel sector could charge a HK$300 handling fee if passengers want a full refund. Or, they can reschedule their trip within six months at no charge.

Tung said the council was unanimous in canceling the approximately 30 tours through Saturday. But the outlook of about 300 additional mainland tours from Sunday through Feb 12 are still unclear.

That means about 6,000 potential travelers are playing the waiting game, hoping the mainland's worst snowstorm in 50 years subsides.

Tung said there were seven Hong Kong tour groups stranded in Changsha, Nanjing and Wuhan yesterday afternoon. All those travelers are safe, and the four Nanjing and Wuhan groups may have been able to return last night.

But given the problems thus far, and in the interest of travelers, Tung said: "Council members unanimously reached the decision because they know the weather problem in Changsha and Zhangjiajie is the most serious."

Members of the three tour groups stranded in Changsha are being provided accommodation and meals. One of the groups, operated by SIG Holiday, has been stranded there for almost a week.

Simon Hau, managing director of the travel agency, vowed to bring them home as soon as a flight is available.

He also believed the tour members could obtain compensation for the delay, as they had all purchased travel insurance.

Train services between Hong Kong and the mainland were also interrupted by bad weather. Carrying 300 passengers, the through-train T97 from Beijing was originally scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong on Monday. It didn't arrive until noon yesterday.

According to some passengers, there was power, gas and drinking water on board for most of the trip and the hygiene conditions were acceptable.

While on the way, some passengers asked for free food and were provided with a cup of noodles and fried rice.

Train T98 also departed yesterday for Beijing after a two-day delay. Those travelers weren't as upset, with some saying they had the "unexpected bonus" of an extended stay in Hong Kong.  (By Joseph Li)