Zhou Yanyan, a Shanghai-based journalist, was in Sanya, Hainan province, on a reporting trip. Zhou planned to catch a flight back to Shanghai that would depart at 4:50 pm on Friday, yet by press time her plane was still in Shanghai reportedly due to "weather conditions".
Zhou said that all her fellow passengers were transferred to a nearby hotel for free accommodation, and she saw at least four shuttle buses taking passengers from different flights to hotels for similar reasons.
"They all seemed calm and OK with it, and maybe I'm the most unhappy person. I've got work to do," Zhou sighed.
Traffic jams aside, China is expected to have made 478.2 billion yuan ($71.7 billion) from tourism during the golden week, a 13.5 percent increase year-on-year, according to a survey by China Tourism Academy and online travel agency Ctrip.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
