THEhe last day of the long “Golden Week” in China transformed the return journey into a gigantic snake of red lights. Thousands of cars, loaded with families and suitcases, poured towards the toll booth Wuzhangamong the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsucreating one of the biggest traffic jams of the year. A surreal scene, made even more evocative by the nocturnal images that invaded Chinese social media: a sea of stopped cars, 36 lanes illuminated by rear lights, like a river of lava in the middle of the night.
China’s largest toll booth on tilt
The October 7final day of the celebrations of National Day and of Mid-Autumn Festivalsaw the Wuzhang toll booth – the largest in China – operating at full capacity. All the 36 lanes they remained operational for eight consecutive days, but even this was not enough: according to estimates, more 120,000 vehicles they only passed through the facility on the last day. Videos and drone footage show endless lines of cars squeezing into four lanes to pass the toll, in a ballet of patience and horns.
Record travel to China for the “Golden Week”
The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism has registered 888 million trips during this year’s holidays, against the 765 million of 2023. An increase that speaks not only of the desire to move, but also of the rebirth of post-pandemic domestic tourism. The National Immigration Administration also reported further 2 million transits daily at the borders of the country, a sign of mobility returning to pre-Covid levels.
When the road becomes the symbol of a country
The images of the Wuzhang toll gate evoked the memory of the famous man traffic jam of 2010when the Beijing-Tibet Expressway it was blocked for 12 consecutive days with a queue 100 kilometers long. But today, more than a disservice, the traffic of 2025 tells of a China on the move, crowded, dynamic – and ready, once again, to travel.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED