62-Mile Traffic Jam Enters 9th Day

A 62-mile-long traffic jam in China enters its ninth day today, and could continue for at least a month. The expressway leading to Beijing has been clogged with thousands of trucks since Aug. 14 due to construction, a jam made worse by accidents and broken-down cars, the Global Times reports. The drivers, mainly truckers, say they would rather sit in traffic than take detours, which would cost more in gas and tolls.

Construction is due to be completed Sept. 13. Until then, some truckers are killing time by playing cards or buying overpriced food. “Instant noodles are sold at four times the original price while I wait in the congestion,” says one. “Not only the congestion annoys me, but also those vendors.” One critic of China’s infrastructure, however, says the traffic jam isn’t exactly news: “If there's no traffic jam in the city, that would be news.”
(More Beijing stories.)