Related News
Early mourners clog highways
By Lu Feiran |
April 5, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than 2.6 million local people visited ancestors' graves yesterday during Qingming, the traditional festival for mourning, Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said last night.
Some people reached cemeteries as early as 5am, the bureau said, adding visitations were up 10 percent on last year and exceeded expectations.
Local transport authorities said more than 555,000 vehicles set out early for cemetery visits, causing traffic jams.
From 5am to 9am, more than 180,000 vehicles were stuck on several highways, and roads around cemeteries were jammed, according to the Shanghai Highway Administration.
Director Dai Dunwei said Jiangqiao toll station on the A11 Highway, which connects Shanghai and Nanjing, handled 50 percent more traffic volume than for the same period last Saturday and was 200 percent more than on usual weekends.
Officials said toll charges were suspended temporarily during the peak period to move traffic quickly and relieve congestion.
Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station and Shanghai Railway Station also got busy before 7am as many ancestors of Shanghai people are buried in surrounding cities.
A total of 1,050 buses set out from the Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station carrying more than 33,000 people, up 45 percent on last year's Qingming Festival.
Most buses went to cities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The station increased the number of buses by 200 to cope with the volume of tomb sweepers, officials said.
Shanghai railway police were on duty all day as more than 240,000 people used trains to get to grave sites.
Cemeteries also took measures to ease the traffic burden, many offering half-price tickets on afternoon shuttle buses to encourage people to avoid the morning peak.
The holiday was not only for tomb sweeping, with Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center reporting more than 3,890 tourists visiting the suburbs.
The Flower Port in Nanhui District was the most popular scenic spot, with visitor volumes up 40 percent over last year's Qingming holiday.
Some people reached cemeteries as early as 5am, the bureau said, adding visitations were up 10 percent on last year and exceeded expectations.
Local transport authorities said more than 555,000 vehicles set out early for cemetery visits, causing traffic jams.
From 5am to 9am, more than 180,000 vehicles were stuck on several highways, and roads around cemeteries were jammed, according to the Shanghai Highway Administration.
Director Dai Dunwei said Jiangqiao toll station on the A11 Highway, which connects Shanghai and Nanjing, handled 50 percent more traffic volume than for the same period last Saturday and was 200 percent more than on usual weekends.
Officials said toll charges were suspended temporarily during the peak period to move traffic quickly and relieve congestion.
Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station and Shanghai Railway Station also got busy before 7am as many ancestors of Shanghai people are buried in surrounding cities.
A total of 1,050 buses set out from the Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station carrying more than 33,000 people, up 45 percent on last year's Qingming Festival.
Most buses went to cities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The station increased the number of buses by 200 to cope with the volume of tomb sweepers, officials said.
Shanghai railway police were on duty all day as more than 240,000 people used trains to get to grave sites.
Cemeteries also took measures to ease the traffic burden, many offering half-price tickets on afternoon shuttle buses to encourage people to avoid the morning peak.
The holiday was not only for tomb sweeping, with Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center reporting more than 3,890 tourists visiting the suburbs.
The Flower Port in Nanhui District was the most popular scenic spot, with visitor volumes up 40 percent over last year's Qingming holiday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
