Tourist sites overwhelmed as toll-free roads increase extended national holidays and a decision to waive highway tolls have brought many tourist attractions to a virtual standstill since the beginning of the eight-day vacation.
Authorities have felt the pinch of the projected 13 percent increase in travelers on the roads, in part boosted by toll-free highways during major festivals, effective since day income at tourist attractions reached 310 million yuan ($49.3 million), skyrocketing by 33 percent year-on-year.
But the huge crowds, heavy traffic and exorbitant prices in tourist areas have taken some of the luster out of Golden Li, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, said on his micro blog that more than 300 policemen and government officials climbed up the mountain to help trapped visitors.
The waiving of highway tolls compounded problems. Byspurring unprecedented road traffic, toll-free highways left hundreds of thousands of drivers stuck in traffic ty-four major highways in 16 provinces were effectively transformed into enormous parking lots as 86 million people took to the sands of pictures were posted on micro blogs showing frustrated drivers walking their dogs, playing tennis or just napping in the vehicles.
To solve the problems, the government should consider adjusting the long-holiday framework that puts more than 1.3 billion people on vacation for a week at exactly the same time, experts say.
