We defined and detected the station-based and regional persistent cold rain and snow events over South China( Guangxi and Guangdong) using observation data from 178 stations during 1951-2012, and analyzed their spatio-temporal variation. We aimed to provide a reference for the prediction of cold rain and snow events and for the estimation of the impacts of cold rain and snow events on ecological environment in winter over South China. Station-based events over South China occurred mainly in the north of 23°N, and high-frequency events area mainly concentrated over northeast Guangxi and northwest Guangdong. The regional events mainly occurred in the north of 24°N, and high-frequency events area was similar with the station-based events. The most station-based and regional persistent cold rain and snow events occurred in January,followed by February. The events were more frequent in the 1970s and 1980s, consistent with the climatic change characteristics of winter temperature over South China. The occurrence of cold rain and snow events was closely related to elevation and terrain. The events occurred more easily in the stations with elevation between 100-200 m. The analysis of the intensity of regional persistent cold rain and snow events using the cold-wet index showed that serious events were more frequent in the 1970s. After the 1990s, the serious events tended to be reduced but the severity was more extreme.