During the “Labor Day” holiday, tourist attractions across mainland China were overcrowded with frequent accidents reported, including capsized tour boats, car collisions, and pedestrian accidents, leading to multiple fatalities. The overcrowding was exacerbated by long wait times for visitors, resulting in chaos with calls for ticket refunds, highlighting issues of mismanagement and a lack of emphasis on safety at tourist sites.
On May 4th, in Xiren Miao Village of Qianxi City, Guizhou Province, a tour boat capsized in the Liu Chong River scenic area, causing 84 people to fall into the water, with 10 fatalities and 70 individuals receiving medical treatment. On the same day in the evening, a car collision with passengers at a bus stop occurred in Tengzhou City, Shandong, leaving at least 7 to 8 people injured or killed.
On May 3rd, a gasoline truck caught fire while driving on the Shen-Zhong Tunnel in the direction from Zhongshan to Shenzhen.
On May 2nd, at least four cars collided inside the Nanguang High-Speed South-Ping Road Tunnel in Nanping, Fujian, with one silver SUV flipping over and another black sedan severely deformed at the front. In the evening of the same day, a traffic accident in the Gulou District of Fuzhou resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries.
On the day before the “Labor Day” holiday, a coach bus travelling from Xi’an South Bus Station to Hanzhong crashed at the entrance of a tunnel to avoid a vehicle from the adjacent lane, leading to passengers being sent for medical treatment.
During the holiday, severe traffic congestion was also observed on highways. Mr. Wu, a retired individual from Hunan, mentioned that on May 4th on the Jingguang Expressway, the entire route was heavily congested, describing it as the lifeline of China, and similar to previous long holidays, traffic jams were prevalent on highways.
Moreover, tourist destinations nationwide were overcrowded, and due to poor management and excessive crowds, queue times at many locations were excessively long, causing frustration among visitors. Just on May 2nd, multiple tourists in various locations were demanding refunds.
In the evening of the 2nd, there was a lack of transportation for visitors at the South Gate of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, leaving thousands stranded with demands for refunds. At the Yulongxia scenic spot in Foshan, chaos broke out with visitors demanding refunds; in the Huangtengxia scenic area in Qingyuan, Guangdong, visitors queued from 1 pm to 6 pm without completing the rafting activity and requested refunds for compensation. In the Yuxi Grand Canyon in western Henan, visitors who had waited in line for 4 hours demanded refunds; long queues were witnessed at the Oriental Pearl scenic area in Shanghai, leading visitors to demand refunds due to the unbearable conditions.
A Shanghai resident, Mr. Zhong, noted, “With the current economic situation not great, there are more budget travelers. Many of my friends also prefer nearby travel options, but the train tickets for these routes are often sold out, indicating a preference for closer destinations.”
Mr. Zhong expressed concerns about the chaotic management of tourist sites and other sectors, stating that laziness and a passive attitude were prevalent in both government departments and large enterprises. Mr. Zhong highlighted the serious consequences of this passive behavior, leading to increased accidents.
Regarding the chaos at various tourist spots during the “Labor Day” holiday, Mr. Wu stated, “Holiday travel in China is essentially an administrative act regulated by the government, driven by economic motives. The Communist Party’s rule for over seventy years has never truly abandoned the planned economy mindset. Despite participating in various market economy behaviors after the reform and opening up, its core essence remains rooted in the planned economy approach. Such long holiday behaviors are a manifestation of this planned economy approach, which can be highly detrimental to the healthy functioning of the economy.”