Crowds queue for shuttle buses taking them to a cemetery in Shanghai's Jiading District yesterday. Roads in downtown areas and to cemeteries in suburban areas were gridlocked for much of the morning as residents made the Qingming Festival journey to pay respect to their ancestors. (Photo: Shanghai Daily/Xu Xiaolin)
The number of city residents visiting cemeteries for Qingming Festival yesterday was down more than 13 percent on last year — but many still had to endure lengthy traffic jams.
Around 3 million people visited Shanghai cemeteries to pay their respects to their ancestors, a drop of 13.2 percent from 2014.
The authorities partly attributed this to appeals in recent years for residents to go on days leading up to Qingming or on other festivals. Some 1.5 million made the trip on Saturday.
Heavy rain is also thought to have reduced numbers.
10km tailbacks
An estimated 298,000 vehicles made the journey for the tomb sweeping day yesterday — down 6.9 percent from last year.
But this did not prevent gridlock, with tailbacks stretching back 10 kilometers on some highways.
Congestion was reported on Yan'an Elevated Road, the Middle Ring Road, the North-South Elevated Highway and sections of the G2, G50, S5 and S2 highways leading to Jiangsu Province and cemeteries in Qingpu and Jiading districts and the Pudong New Area as early as 5:30am.
The Zhufeng section of the G50 Highway was worst affected with gridlock stretching 10km.
Conditions eased around 10am, traffic police said.
"The wet weather worsened the situation and minor accidents increased pressure on traffic," said Cui Ziyi, an official with Shanghai Road Administration Bureau.
Even motorists who arrived early found it difficult to get parked.
Parking lots at cemeteries, including Fushouyuan and Xujingxiyuan cemeteries in Qingpu District, had no spaces by 8am. Some people arrived as early as 5am at Fushouyuan.
The 2,000 parking spaces at Songhe Cemetery in Jiading District were full by 7am. Overspill parking was organized at the Shanghai International Circuit, with shuttle buses provided.
By 8am, there was a 3-kilometer queue of vehicles between the Qingpu toll station on the G50 highway and Waiqingsong Road, leading to the cemetery.
Local resident Wang Ning said she reached the toll at 6:40am, but from there the 3km journey to the cemetery took 90 minutes. "I would have be quicker walking," she said.
Caoyang Road Metro station imposed a limit on passengers due to crowds. Trains were added on Line 11, with 50,000 passengers taking the line to Songhe Cemetery.
