Are you thinking of going on holiday to China anytime soon? Well, you may have to reconsider your choice of transport within the capital, Beijing! 

In recent years, China has spent a lot of time, and money on a huge expansion of its national road system. Unfortunately, there has been a major setback due to the high volume of traffic which has periodically overwhelmed the grid. In June, July and August this year, the problem worsened when cars were stuck in a huge tailback and reduced to a snail’s pace, with some drivers stuck in the traffic for 9 consecutive days.

However, on Thursday, the problems reoccurred. A huge traffic jam appeared to stretch 120 kilometres (75 miles) on the major highway that links Inner Mongolia and the northern province of Hebei with Beijing. It is thought that over 10,000 vehicles were stuck in this long queue, with a high percentage of the vehicles being cargo trucks carrying huge shipments of goods.

The finger is being pointed at accidents, and highway maintenance projects’ inability to cope with the increasing number of vehicles on the road. However, according to government reports, Beijing passed the 4 million mark of cars on its roads in December 2009, and it is believed that by the end of 2011 that number will increase to 5 million.

Unless drastic action is taken to reduce the number of cars on the road and to improve public transport, the problem will worsen over the coming years.