Name any major Chinese tourist attraction – the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Hangzhou's West Lake, Shanghai's Bund – and chances were it was barely visible for a sea of people this weekend, as Workers' Day crowds flocked to the country's sights.
Public holidays are the only vacation time many workers have in China, meaning that millions of people flock to the same tourist sights at the same time, because they may not get another chance to do so. This year was particularly bad, with a 34 mile (55 kilometre) traffic jam winding its way into Beijing before the holiday even began, and the Forbidden City seeing over 100,000 tourists over a three day period.
Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, saw a staggering 3.8 million visitors, almost half the city's total population, during the holiday.
According to Xinhua, there were 37 million train journeys during the Workers' Day holiday, up 16 percent on 2013. Be glad you stayed at home.
[Images via CNS]
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