Tourist sites overwhelmed as toll-free roads increase crowds.The extended national holidays and a decision to waive highway tolls have brought many tourist attractions to a virtual standstill since the beginning of the eight-day vacation.

Authorities have felt the pinch of the projected 13 percent increase in travelers on the roads, in part boosted by toll-free highways during major festivals, effective since Sunday.Holiday income at tourist attractions reached 310 million yuan ($49.3 million), skyrocketing by 33 percent year-on-year.

But the huge crowds, heavy traffic and exorbitant prices in tourist areas have taken some of the luster out of Golden Week.Chen Li, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, said on his micro blog that more than 300 policemen and government officials climbed up the mountain to help trapped visitors.

The waiving of highway tolls compounded problems. Byspurring unprecedented road traffic, toll-free highways left hundreds of thousands of drivers stuck in traffic during.Twenty-four major highways in 16 provinces were effectively transformed into enormous parking lots as 86 million people took to the roads.Thousands of pictures were posted on micro blogs showing frustrated drivers walking their dogs, playing tennis or just napping in the vehicles.

To solve the problems, the government should consider adjusting the long-holiday framework that puts more than 1.3 billion people on vacation for a week at exactly the same time, experts say.

沪江英语快讯：“双节”虽然已经过去，但黄金周出游的拥堵依然挥之不去。对于黄金周如此拥挤的原因，有网友认为是缺少了“五一”黄金周的分流。2008年“五一”长假被清明、端午和中秋等3天“小长假”取代后，“十一”集聚了居民出游潜能，再加上高速路公路免收费，以致造成各景点人潮汹涌，车辆绵延不绝，游客们本想利用长假好好放松，却丝毫没有体会到游山玩水之乐。北京故宫、江西庐山、陕西华山、福建鼓浪屿等热门景区都出现了游客数量较多、滞留在路上的情况。不少游客打趣说，本来想在西湖拍张独照留念，但拍来拍去都是集体照。