China's 'golden holidays' turn into 'golden mess'
Major tourist spots across the nation were brimming with millions of holidaymakers in the first three days of 'golden week', leaving many sights in chaos and prompting internet users to mock the annual rush as a "national celebration -Chinese style".
October 04, 2013 / 15:41 IST
China's seven-day 'golden holidays' to celebrate the National Day turned out to be a 'golden mess' as major tourist spots were swamped by millions of people while highways have become 'free parking lots'.
Major tourist spots across the nation were brimming with millions of holidaymakers in the first three days of 'golden week', leaving many sights in chaos and prompting internet users to mock the annual rush as a "national celebration -Chinese style".Terming it as a 'golden mess', state-run Xinhua news agency reported that highways have turned into "free parking lots" as they were clogged with thousands of cars. A record 110 pairs of high-speed trains have shuttled between here and nearby city of Tianjin, transporting over a lakh passengers daily.Also read: A winner of US government shutdown: China The trip between the two municipalities takes 33 minutes. With a record 460 million travellers moving all over the country, the bullet trains operated under minimum intervals, struggling under the strain.China experiences the holiday rush twice every year, one for the one week national holidays and other for a fortnight Chinese New Year in February.Yesterday, managers of Jiuzhaigou national park apologised to more than 4,000 travellers who were left stranded for up to 10 hours and were forced to walk several kms in the dark to catch buses out of the world-famous valley in Sichuan province.Photos posted on microblogs showed thousands of angry visitors gathered near the ticket office demanding refunds. Since the holiday kicked off on Tuesday, toll-free highways, admission ticket discounts and lower gas prices have combined to make this so-called Golden Week the best time for travelling.About 98,000 visitors crowded the Summer Palace here on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of a giant rubber duck installed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. Major scenic spots in Tianjin, a coastal municipality
neighbouring Beijing, received over eight lakh visitors on the first day of the National Day holiday.Ahead of the holiday season, China's first Tourism Law came into effect on October 1, specifying scenic spots are not allowed to receive tourists exceeding their capacities. Early warning mechanisms and group visitor reservation systems have been broadly introduced to make the best use of travel resources.February saw China's cabinet announcing a new programme promoting domestic tourism in order to encourage more people to travel to encourage spending to re-balance the export dependent economy to depend on domestic consumption.To encourage more people to travel, China introduced a policy of exempting highway tolls during holidays for the first time in October, 2012. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
