On October 3rd, a netizen posted a video claiming that they were charged 217.5 yuan for parking for 7 hours at the Zhongshan Scenic Area in Nanjing, and even after seeking help from the traffic police, no action was taken. The video has garnered attention online.
In the video, a woman argued with the parking lot attendant, saying, “This is outrageous, we were charged 217.5 yuan for 7 hours of parking. The parking lot behind us charges only 69 yuan for a whole day. We only spent 5 minutes driving back and forth.”
Litchi News contacted the parking lot at Zhongshan Scenic Area, and the staff responded that the parking lot in the video is the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum No. 1 Entrance parking lot, which is one of the main parking areas in the core area of the Zhongshan Scenic Area.
By checking the payment system, the staff confirmed that the car owner did park for over 7 hours and paid 217.5 yuan. The staff explained that the usual rate for small cars is 12 yuan per hour, but during holidays like the National Day and Spring Festival, it increases to 30 yuan per hour. This standard has been in effect since 2018, which is around six to seven years.
The staff emphasized that the fees are charged according to the set standards, and there is no overcharging involved.
According to Litchi News, many popular scenic spots across the country adopt similar parking fee regulation strategies to “encourage eco-friendly travel.”
Moreover, it was reported by Jimo News that to relieve traffic pressure in scenic areas and protect the ecological environment, the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and Government announced a traffic optimization plan for the Zhongshan Mausoleum Scenic Area on December 29, 2017. They also released the latest parking fee standards for the area: for large vehicles, a flat fee of 25 yuan per entry in the core and peripheral areas, or a timed fee of 5 yuan every 15 minutes. For small cars (timed fee), the charges range from 7.5 yuan per 15 minutes during holidays to 3 yuan per 15 minutes at other times in the core area.
Based on this standard, during the National Day and Spring Festival holidays, the parking fee for small cars in the core area is 7.5 yuan per 15 minutes.
The topic of “Official Response to being charged 217.5 yuan for parking for 7 hours” trended on Weibo on October 4th.
Some netizens expressed understanding, saying that restricting traffic during holidays is necessary to prevent congestion. They compared it to higher parking fees at hospital entrances and suggested that people should be grateful as the pricing is normal.
On the other hand, many netizens found the charges to be expensive, with comments such as, “It’s really expensive,” “Parking a car costs more than my daily wage,” “This is just a legal way of robbing people!” “Following this logic, prices should increase during holidays.” Some hesitated to visit Nanjing due to the situation and praised Shenzhen for offering free parking reservations during holidays, mentioning that increasing prices due to high demand is not a solution. One user expressed disappointment in Nanjing’s image being tarnished by this issue.
The sentiment was also reflected in comments like, “Encouraging car ownership first and then promoting eco-friendly travel? That deducts points in my book. I won’t be going there anymore.”