Gridlock is a way of life for Chinese
Gridlock is a way of life for Chinese | World news | The Guardian
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The trucks were parked up, bumper-to-bumper and mile upon mile of them. No one is going anywhere fast in what has been dubbed the world longest-lasting traffic jam, in China's Hebei province.
The motorway, part of the Beijing to Tibet expressway, resembles a giant car park – and has done so for the past 10 days. Normally one of the busiest – and noisiest – trunk roads in China, now the only sound that can be heard is the chirrup of the crickets in the nearby wheatfields.
The Chinese authorities are struggling to clear the congestion, now entering its eleventh day and which, at its peak, stretched for more than 60 miles (100km). But the drivers still joining it are not optimistic about reaching their destinations swiftly.
"I have not moved for five hours," said Zhang Xingping, 27, standing outside his cab near a road traffic sign mockingly warning him to obey the 100km per hour speed limit.
A combination of road works and the huge volume of coal trucks that daily rumble along this main route is said to have caused the problem.
Stalled traffic has stretched for days between Jining in Inner Mongolia, and Huai'an in Hebei province, north west of Beijing.
The roadworks are necessary to repair damage caused by an increase in cargo lorries using the highway after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia.
This highway is often congested, as local drivers can attest, shrugging their shoulders at the monotony of hour after hour spent with their gearbox in neutral. Many of them think this is well on its way to being the world's busiest road.
This particular and spectacular jam began on 14 August. At one point vehicles were moving half-a-mile a day with some drivers taking five days to clear it. Now it is slowly easing, said Zhang. He should know. He has been through it once already in the past 10 days. "It took me three days last time," he said. "I am prepared. I have plenty of water."
Local villagers come on motorbikes to take advantage. They are selling simple boxed meals of rice, vegetables and pork for 10 yuan (£1) each. "It's not cheap. It's not filling. But we have no choice," said Zhang, of the food on offer.
The stranded drivers, who spend their time sleeping, walking around, or playing cards and chess, are a captive market, and the local entrepreneurs are keen to take advantage. A bottle of water, normally 1 yuan, sells for 10 yuan, while the price of a 3 yuan cup of instant noodles had tripled. "It's more expensive than eating in a restaurant," complained one driver who gave his surname as Lu.
Zhang had set off this morning from the coal mining area in Inner Mongolia. As the moon rose and time ticked into the early hours, he still had no idea when he would make Tangshan, in Shandong province, the coastal industrial town to which he and his cargo were headed. Others were following the same route. Instead of celebrating Zhong Yuan festival, China's equivalent of Halloween, with their families, they were on the highway, smoking cigarettes. Another driver, who gave his name as Li, blamed the high toll fees on the roads in neighbouring Shanxi province – as well as the volume of traffic that has become a big problem in China.
This year it overtook the US as the largest car market in the world, and has embarked on a huge expansion of its national road system in recent years.
"Everybody has to use this road as the other is too expensive," Li moaned. "It should be free."
He had heard that the end of the jam might be just 10km away, but was unconvinced. "Even if it starts moving now, it will be very slow because all the drivers are asleep," he said.
Huge traffic jams are common in China on some mountain roads. If a truck breaks down it can often lead to jams of several days. This, however, does seem to be an exceptional one.
China's state media reported the authorities were trying to ease the congestion by allowing more trucks into Beijing, especially at night, and asking trucking companies to suspend operations or take alternatives routes. But even as that was announced, reports were of more congestion, this time on surrounding roads as drivers tried to avoid the jam. It looks like drivers may well have to draw on their reserves of patience for some time to come.
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