2011 Oct 09 Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
Most of the city is back into the seven-day work week – the price we pay for the October Holiday. Whether you chose to get away or relax in the city, Beijing was far from dull as tourists flocked to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City.
As with each year's national holiday, October’s Golden Week brought the nation's capital a massive wave of domestic tourists as people attempted to make the most of their mandatory vacations. If you had travel plans but didn’t try to skip town early (rookie mistake), chances were that you got caught amid record numbers on the trains and at the airports. On October 1 alone, 8.928 million passengers rode China’s rails (up 7.7 percent from last year). Meanwhile, Beijing’s airport handled 258,000 passengers on October 1; the expected total for the September 30 to October 7 period should top two million.
Tourists who attempted to forgo the travel rush and stick to sightseeing in Beijing were faced with crushing crowds both downtown and north of Beijing at the more popular Great Wall locations. More than 12 million tourists clogged Beijing's museums and parks (up 28 percent from 2010), making up the majority of 24.3 million tourists that visited 119
Photos: chinaSMACK.com
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admin
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
actually if you stayed away from the major tourist sites, beijing was a wonderful place to be over the holiday -- a lot less traffic, a lot less pollution, generally a lot fewer crowds
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x.y.z
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
Completely agree! Less crowds in my favorite restaurants and bars and less traffic jams made me enjoy Beijing more than usual.
lucreziab
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
Jianwai Soho was a ghost town Thursday morning, it was great to walk around there. So relaxing.
Traminer
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
And vacant taxis EVERYWHERE!!!
lucreziab
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
True, it was so easy to get taxis. The drivers seemed happier, too. I had some really funny ones that made me laugh the whole way.
tomomalley
Re: Crowds Descend on Beijing During the October Holiday
Hmm, obviously none of you live on / around Gulou Dong. Glad it's all over.
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