Incredible images show gridlock on China’s largest toll road as drivers return home from national holiday

Incredible images have captured a kilometres-long traffic jam at China’s largest toll road as millions of travellers made their way home after the eight-day national holiday.

Aerial footage showed thousands of cars lined up at the 36-lane Wuzhuang Toll Station in Chuzhou, in the eastern Anhui province, on Tuesday as the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday drew to a close.

Images of the gridlock have gone viral on social media.

The toll station expected more than 120,000 cars on the final day, NDTV reported.

(Aerial view of traffic at the Wuzhuang Toll Station on October 7. Picture: Fang Dongxu/VCG via Getty Images)

(With 36 lanes it’s China’s largest toll station. Picture: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

China’s National Day holiday is traditionally one of the busiest on the country’s travel calendar.

This year it coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, an important time for family gatherings, resulting in an extended break running from October 1 to 8.

(Millions of travellers made their way home. Picture: Fang Dongxu/Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

(It’s traditionally one of the busiest times on the travel calendar. Picture: Fang Dongxu/VCG via Getty Images)

Around 888 million trips were made this year, compared with 765 million trips during last year’s seven-day holiday, according to China’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The images drew comparisons to China’s worst-ever traffic jam in 2010, which lasted for a record 12 days and slowed traffic for more than 100 kilometres along the China National Highway 110 and the Beijing–Tibet expressway, stretching from the outskirts of Beijing to Inner Mongolia.

Thousands of drivers were stranded days on end, in some cases being able to move only about 1km per day.

Villagers along the highway took to selling stranded drivers instant noodles, cigarettes and other items at vastly inflated prices, according to reports at the time.

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