At least 47 people from 18 households are missing, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) has reported. Two of the missing people were found dead early Monday afternoon.

The landslide hit two villages in the southwestern city of Zhaotong at about 5:51 am local time, covering houses in brown mountain soil at the foot of a hill, CCTV reported.

"The mountain just collapsed, dozens were buried," a man surnamed Gu, who witnessed the landslide, told the state-owned TV station for the neighbouring province of Guizhou. Gu said four of his relatives were buried under the rubble.

"They were all sleeping in their homes," he said.

Firefighters are climbing through the rubble searching for survivors in light snow, CCTV reported. It was not clear what caused the landslide.

China dispatched nearly 1,000 rescue workers to the scene, along with nearly 200 rescue vehicles, the report said. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was leading a group to the site to guide rescue works.

More than 500 people have been evacuated from their homes.

Yunnan is among several provinces in the country's southern region currently experiencing bitterly cold temperatures, according to the National Meteorological Centre.

The landslide came just over a month after China's most powerful earthquake in years struck to the northwest in a remote region between Gansu and Qinghai province.

At least 149 people were killed in the 6.2-magnitude tremor that struck on December 18, reducing homes to rubble and triggering heavy mudslides that inundated two villages in Qinghai province.

Australian Associated Press