Transport links have been gradually restored in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao City after record snowstorms battered parts of northern China for days, forcing roads, the airport and schools to close.

The blizzard left one person dead and 14,920 residents affected in Tongliao, where heavy snowfall lasted for 46 consecutive hours, the longest since 1951, CCTV reported.

Some cities in northern China's Inner Mongolia and Liaoning Provinces reportedly received more than 50 centimeters of snow. Media photos showed accumulated snow burying cars and blocking building entrances.

Local authorities suspended all flights, rail and bus services on Saturday. As snowfall abated by mid-week, excavators were dispatched to clear roads.

Armed police forces in Inner Mongolia have also mobilized to carry out snow removal operations, CCTV reported.

Tongliao Airport has resumed some flights and a highway connecting the city with a county in neighboring Liaoning Province was reopened on Thursday.