The toll gate of a scenic grassland road in Zhangbei, North China's Hebei Province. (Photo/The Mirror)
(ECNS) -- Zhangbei, a small county in North China's Hebei Province, made 756,850 yuan ($115,420) from its short-lived toll charge on one of China's most scenic roads, Chinese language newspaper The Mirror reported.
Yang Liang, director of Zhangbei's tourism bureau, said the county sold 15,578 tickets in 20 days and that all income would be used to protect the road.
It was added that drivers will need to make online reservations to use the road amid efforts to control rocketing growth in the number of vehicles and visitors.
Zhangbei began charging 50 yuan per person for using a provincial road that connects several local attractions known as the Grass Skyline on May 1.
The local tourism bureau said the charge was both reasonable and lawful and that the money collected would be used for maintenance and environmental protection.
But many drivers complained about the introduction of the toll and the county quickly became the center of national discussions. Zhangbei then deiced to cancel the 20-day-old policy on May 23.
A crew of more than 300 workers is now responsible for cleaning and maintaining the road at an annual cost of 10.8 million yuan, said a local official.
