Chinese spend National Day holiday in fog and frugality

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Chinese spend National Day holiday in fog and frugality

(Xinhua) 08:05, October 08, 2013

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BEIJING, Oct.7 (Xinhua) -- Golden Week, China's National Day holiday ends on Monday, and has been marked by prolonged foggy weather in north China and a national campaign of frugality.

HEAVY FOG

Heavy fog has covered most parts of north China since October 4,the fourth day of the National Day holiday, affecting at least seven cities and provinces including Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Shaanxi and Tianjin.

On Sunday, Beijing's air was severely polluted and extremely unhealthy, according to the National Meteorological Center, who predicted that the miserable weather would last until Tuesday.

Not only did the foggy weather raise health concerns, it disrupted holiday traffic. In Beijing, the visibility was under 1,000 meters in downtown areas on Sunday. Traffic police closed six interprovincial expressways, including roads linking the capital with Harbin in the northeast, Shanghai in the east, as well as Tianjin and Hebei.

At Beijing's Capital International Airport, 13 flights were canceled, 29 incoming flights had to land at airports in neighboring cities and another five had to return due to the poor visibility.

Authorities in Tianjin closed all 14 expressways in the northern municipality because of the fog. In the neighboring Hebei Province, 13 expressways are closed until visibility improves. Foggy weather also affected most parts of Liaoning Province with 15 expressways closed.

In the foggiest industrial city of Anshan, visibility was under 50 meters in some areas and many travelers were forced to postpone their trips.

FRUGALITY CAMPAIGN

Along with the fog, a national austerity campaign continued during the holiday.

Floral displays are usually an important part of National Day, which falls on Oct. 1, and those in Tian'anmen Square are a major tourist attraction.

This year, however, there is only an 18.2-meter-high parterre in the center of the square with no plant arrangements on the sides, while those near the monument in the square are smaller than in previous years.

In Shenzhen, flower decorations in Xiaoping Portrait Square are also fewer than before, but authorities say flowers which will bloom longer were selected to reduce the maintenance cost and save manpower.

The country is in the middle of a campaign to boost ties between officials and the public and exorcise undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

Earlier last month, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a circular urging officials to refrain from luxurious banquets and gift giving ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept. 19 this year, and the National Day holidays.

Besides flowers, the frugality drive was reflected in the cooling of businesses involving liquor, flowers and luxury gifts, as well as high-end restaurants, since the party and government cut their spending.

Take Yangcheng Lake crabs business, a luxurious delicacy that always served as the best holiday gift for government officials before, for example. According to the owner of a crab breeding company, revenue this year is expected to slide by about 10 percent as far fewer government units plan to purchase the expensive crustaceans.

Expenses of exhibitions held during the holiday are cut as well.

At the 7th China International Cultural Expo held in Hefei, Anhui Province on October 4, the exhibition area was cut from 100,000 square meters to 20,000 square meters. But people who came to the exhibition on the first day reached 68,000, beating the previous record.

"In fields such as culture, big investment does not necessarily mean high profit. It is the inner quality of works that matters," said Lv Jun, an official from the Ministry of Culture.