A ferry made of two boats linked together runs on the river in Wangdianzi Village. (Photo/Beijing News)
(ECNS) -- Viral reports claiming many commuters took a ferry to escape traffic jams in Beijing have proved to be fake, Beijing News said.
A blogger wrote last Thursday that he found a better way to travel from Yanjiao in Hebei Province to a highway in Beijing's Tongzhou District by crossing Chaobai River by ferry.
The post was later widely shared and edited to imply that many commuters between Yanjiao and Beijing travel via ferry in rush hours.
The blogger, a taxi driver, told the paper that it was his first time to transport his car and a passenger over the river to save time. "It's been over-read and misunderstood," he said of the widespread online coverage.
Li Guoxin and his uncle Li Lian now run the ferry, made of two boats linked together, on the river in Wangdianzi Village. Xiji Town in Beijing's Tongzhou District is directly on the other side.
But passengers are mainly villagers living nearby and cars rarely pass through, at most two a day, said Li Guoxin. He also said no commuters take the road to go to work in Beijing.
Many people in the village favor the ferry because the nearest bridge is 5 kilometers away. It's also free for them and only village outsiders need to pay.
But more car owners came to try the river route after reading the exaggerated online reports.
