China’s Great Wall of Traffic Back to Normal After 9 Days

Posted on Aug 23, 2010

Flickr / Aapo Haapanen (CC-BY-SA)

A glimpse of Beijing traffic under normal, non-news-making circumstances.

Here in Los Angeles, we know gridlock and frankly we’re not impressed by what most people call “traffic,” but the Chinese are taking things to an extreme. China says a nine-day, 60-mile-long traffic jam is finally breaking up.

During the fiasco, there were complaints that locals set up roadside shops and overcharged for refreshments. To think the U.S. once felt obliged to defend capitalism from these people.

BBC:

Vehicles, mostly lorries bound for Beijing, are in a queue for about 100km (62 miles) because of heavy traffic, road works and breakdowns.

The drivers have complained that locals were over-charging them for food and drink while they were stuck.

The situation has now “basically returned to normal,” state television said on Monday.

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