The jam on the main north-south motorway into
Beijing has been blamed on a set of roadworks that is intended to
alleviate congestion caused by thousands of trucks bring coal and
perishable goods into the city.
At its farthest extent trucks joining the
back of queue in Inner Mongolia were taking several days to reach their
destination, crawling along at about 2mp/d – or miles per day, the
measure of speed on the clogged section.
Local newspapers reported that the jam had
spawned a thriving local economy with opportunists and some
extortionists selling fruit, nuts, water and instant noodles to the
marooned truck drivers who passed the time playing endless hands of
cards.
One driver, named only as Mr Jia who was delivering 49 tons of coals from Shandong province said he had been stranded in the section near Wulanchabu city in Inner Mongolia for three days.
Fortunately he'd taken the precaution of provisioning himself adequately with bread, drinking water and spicy Sichuan pickles and so had ignored the offerings of peddlers selling a single egg for 2 yuan (20p) and water for 3 yuan (30p) a cup. Cigarettes were trading at GBP5.00 a packet, a premium of five times the shop price.
The Inner Mongolia Morning Post reported several incidents of theft where modern day highwayman extorted money from stranded drivers or siphoned petrol from the tanks of lorries while their drivers slept unawares.
Another driver, a Ms Ding told the paper that motorists were robbed of more than RMB60,000 (GBP6,000) at night while one of the older drivers was stabbed in the arm.
"The sellers come offering to sell water at crazy prices, but if you said 'no' or complained about the price they threaten to break your shields", said another.
China's state media reported that the traffic on the road was "basically returning to normal" but reports were coming in on Tuesday that a parallel road, the N110 highway, was becoming blocked with vehicles diverting off the motorway.
China, which this year overtook the USA as the largest car market in the world, has embarked a huge expansion of its national road system in recent years but soaring traffic periodically overwhelms the grid.
In Beijing, where 7m cars are projected to be on the road by 2015, there are warnings that traffic could slow to 15 miles per hour as the cities roads become overwhelmed by the number of cars.
Already Beijing drivers are restricted from using their cars one day per week – based on the final digit of their number plate. Plans to build an elevated electric bus network running on rails above existing roads are due to be tested later in the year.
One driver, named only as Mr Jia who was delivering 49 tons of coals from Shandong province said he had been stranded in the section near Wulanchabu city in Inner Mongolia for three days.
Fortunately he'd taken the precaution of provisioning himself adequately with bread, drinking water and spicy Sichuan pickles and so had ignored the offerings of peddlers selling a single egg for 2 yuan (20p) and water for 3 yuan (30p) a cup. Cigarettes were trading at GBP5.00 a packet, a premium of five times the shop price.
The Inner Mongolia Morning Post reported several incidents of theft where modern day highwayman extorted money from stranded drivers or siphoned petrol from the tanks of lorries while their drivers slept unawares.
Another driver, a Ms Ding told the paper that motorists were robbed of more than RMB60,000 (GBP6,000) at night while one of the older drivers was stabbed in the arm.
"The sellers come offering to sell water at crazy prices, but if you said 'no' or complained about the price they threaten to break your shields", said another.
China's state media reported that the traffic on the road was "basically returning to normal" but reports were coming in on Tuesday that a parallel road, the N110 highway, was becoming blocked with vehicles diverting off the motorway.
China, which this year overtook the USA as the largest car market in the world, has embarked a huge expansion of its national road system in recent years but soaring traffic periodically overwhelms the grid.
In Beijing, where 7m cars are projected to be on the road by 2015, there are warnings that traffic could slow to 15 miles per hour as the cities roads become overwhelmed by the number of cars.
Already Beijing drivers are restricted from using their cars one day per week – based on the final digit of their number plate. Plans to build an elevated electric bus network running on rails above existing roads are due to be tested later in the year.