8 china THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012 CHINA DAILY Highway may be free on holidays

By TAN ZONGYANG Jianzhong, spokesman for the aft er tolls are exempted, which [email protected] Ministry of Transport, who makes the travel more eco- said at a news conference in nomic,” he said. China is expected to waive Beijing last week that progress But the policy could also cre- tolls for vehicles on four impor- had been made on the issue as ate more congestion on high- tant national holidays, as part ministries had reached con- ways. of an attempt to ease congest- sensus, and the initiative was “Th e policy brings pressure ed traffi c during annual travel awaiting approval from the too as there is a possibility that peaks. authority. more people choose to drive Th e State Council approved This year, authorities in on highways, which are already the plan on Wednesday, and eight provinces waived tolls on overcrowded on holiday sea- the Ministry of Transport, expressways during the Spring sons, instead of choosing pub- which initiated the idea, is now Festival to speed up traffi c for lic transport,” said Li Zheliang, busy trying to fi gure out how to millions of travelers heading an official with the road net- implement the waiver, accord- home for family reunions. work monitoring center under ing to an industry insider who The latest move, which the Shanghai Road Adminis- did not want to be identified boldly expands the program tration. before an official announce- nationwide, is expected to save “I’m also worried about the LIFE ON A STRING ment. travel time and money for traffi c safety at toll stations if PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Passenger vehicles with sev- more people. vehicles pass through them at en seats or less will be exempt Teng Xuebei, a Beijing high speeds, which are origi- Firefi ghters rescue a man stuck in a mudslide in Jinggu county, Yunnan province. Th e region from tolls during Spring Festi- motorist who usually drives to nally designed to make drivers was hit with heavy rains, causing fl ooding on Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, four people val, Qingming Festival (Tomb her hometown in Heze, Shan- touch their brakes.” Sweeping Day), Labor Day dong province, for the holi- Li Yunwei also believes the were confi rmed dead and 10 missing. on May 1 and National Day days, hailed the policy. policy will increase the num- on Oct 1, China Land and Teng said the trip from ber of cars on highways during Resources News, a newspaper Beijing to her hometown holidays. Whether the policy under the Ministry of Land takes about six hours. “But on is a good idea won’t be known and Resources, reported on national holidays, an additional until it’s implemented and used Pavement collapses in heavy rains Tuesday. three to four hours is needed on a holiday, Li said. “The policy will apply to because of the congestion Yu Ying, an official at Lia- consecutive holidays of the caused by traffic jams at toll oning province’s transport By CAO YIN “Our workers can repair four vacations. Highways as gates on the borders between department, said on Wednes- [email protected] small holes, with about 1 or 2 well as toll bridges and tunnels provinces,” she said. day that the department has square meters, within 24 hours, will be all free to the public,” Li Yunwei, chairman of the not received any notices about With persistent rains bat- but for bigger ones we need to according to the paper’s micro Beijing Car Owners’ Society, exempting tolls on holidays. tering Beijing, the number of work up a plan and think about blog. It added that the govern- said the move will potentially The waiver must first be collapsed pavements has been the underground pipes for nat- ment will also decide whether boost tourism in suburban dis- approved by the province’s soaring, the city’s road and ural gas and water,” he said. fees for airport expressways tricts as people will be more price department, Yu said. bridge maintenance authority Th e group’s patrol teams have should be waived during those likely to take short driving trips said on Wednesday. covered the whole city, pay- holidays. on holidays. Shi Yingying in Shanghai and Since the fl oods on July 21, ing special attention to lower- The move echoed a previ- “Th e cost of short-distance Wu Yong in Shenyang the Beijing Municipal Bridge ground sections under bridges ous statement made by He travels will be greatly reduced contributed to this story. Maintenance Management or on roads, he said. Group, a State-owned enter- “We’ve also used radar vans prise that repairs bridges and to estimate underground con- roads, has received nearly 300 ditions and help maintenance calls reporting collapses. workers,” he added. Country braces for 2 typhoons “Our hotline operators have In addition, the Beijing gov- received about 25 calls a day ernment also posted a message aft er the heavy downpour,” said on its micro blog providing the By JIN ZHU in Beijing TYPHOONS APPROACHING MAINLAND an employee in the emergency maintenance group’s hotline and SHI YINGYING PROBABLE ROUTES information department of the and asking people to call the in Shanghai TROPICAL STORM SEVERE TROPICAL STORM TYPHOON SEVERE TYPHOON PROJECTED PATH group, who declined to be iden- police if they spot dangerous tifi ed. areas.

East China’s coastal regions Aug 2 CHINA On Wednesday morning, However, Jiang Zhongguang, SPEED have begun emergency prep- 119 kph a pavement on the crossing a city planning professor at the PRESSURE Aug 1 975 hPa SPEED arations as two typhoons Aug 3 108 kph between Huajiadi Street and Beijing University of Civil Engi- SPEED PRESSURE approached the country on 72 kph 980 hPa Wanghua Road, in Chaoyang neering and Architecture, said PRESSURE Wednesday. 995 hPa district, caved in, leaving a hole the key problem behind the Th e center of typhoon Saola, CHINA TYPHOON DAMREY 2 meters deep by more than 10 WANG JING / CHINA DAILY collapsed pavements is lack of Aug 3 Workers repair a section of collapsed road in Chaoyang district the ninth typhoon this year, SPEED square meters wide. regular maintenance. 137 kph in Beijing on Wednesday. PRESSURE was about 210 km southeast 960 hPa No one was injured, the “Workers didn’t fill holes of Hualien, Taiwan, at 1 pm employee said. thoroughly and left some Aug 2 TTYPHOON SAOLA SPEED on Wednesday, the National 151 kph Aug 1 According to the mainte- recent heavy rains. The collapse is believed to gaps, which caused soil ero- PRESSURE SPEED Marine Environmental Fore- 955 hPa 119 kph nance group, the collapse was On Tuesday afternoon, a be linked to recent repairs of sion,” he said, adding the gaps PRESSURE casting Center said. 970 hPa caused by loosened soils that man was slightly injured aft er underground electricity pipes become potential risks in Typhoon Saola would make were eroded by the persistent he fell through a collapsed pave- in the area, the micro blog said. heavy rains. 300 km landfall over Taiwan’s coast or rains and by leaks in under- ment on the northern part of Th e employee with the Bei- “The weather is out of our the northeastern waters of the ground water pipes. Baiyun Road, 400 meters from jing maintenance group said control, but other problems can island on Wednesday night or Source:China Meteorological Administration GUILLERMO MUNRO / CHINA DAILY A 30-year-old driver named the Muxidi subway station on that they have dispatched 2,561 be solved with regular mainte- this morning, the center said. Tang said that even though the Chang’an Avenue in Xicheng workers to deal with collapsed nance,” Jiang said. Heavy rains and strong cover more than 10 provinces In Shanghai, emergency collapses are not frequent, he is district, according to the district pavements or waterlogged winds from Saola are forecast in the days ahead, and that preparation is in place. “It’s constantly anxious due to the government’s micro blog. areas in business districts. Li Yu contributed to this story. to hit coastal areas in Fujian would test the country’s fl ood- quite rare that Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces on control capabilities, it said. will be influenced by two Thursday night or Friday On Wednesday, Taiwan typhoons (Saola and Damrey) morning, it said. issued torrential-rain and at the same time,” said Zhang The center of the 10th strong-wind warnings for most Zhenyu, a spokesman for the Fishing ban lifted over South China Sea typhoon, Damrey, was about of the island in preparation for city’s fl ood prevention depart- 1,230 km southeast of Rizhao Saola after it passed through ment. By JIN HAIXING in Beijing 9,000 ships holding 35,611 fi sh- in waters off the Xisha Islands sible criminal charges, accord- city in East China’s Shandong the Philippines, leaving at least He added that the govern- and HUANG YIMING ermen aff ected by the ban are from Tanmen port in Hainan ing to a statement issued by province at 1 pm on Wednes- 14 people dead. ment of Shanghai is speeding in Haikou going to fi sh in the South China province. the fi shery bureau under the day. Th e typhoon may land on Heavy rain fell in Taipei on up improvement to the city’s Sea, according to Hainan pro- “Sailors in my ship prepared Ministry of Agriculture. The coastal regions in Jiangsu and Wednesday, where authori- drainage system, and that spe- Fishermen in Hainan and vincial fi shery authorities. all the stuff for the operation fi shing ban is also applicable Shandong provinces on Th urs- ties were expected to decide cial attention has been paid to Guangdong provinces have Lin Lijin, captain of Qiong in recent days. As the voyage is to foreign ships. day night or Friday morning, whether to order businesses the underground metro. resumed operation after the Sanya 11181, plans to start about one month long, we also According to Zheng Weiyi, according to the center. and fi nancial markets to close, “Every entrance of metro annual fi shing ban in the north- fi shing off shore from a port in stored enough vegetables and director of Guangdong Admin- Premier Wen Jiabao on Reuters reported. station has been blocked up for ern part of the South China Sea Sanya, Hainan, on Saturday. food,” Chen said. istration of Ocean and Fisher- Wednesday urged local gov- The Maritime Safety a few steps, and we’ve prepared was lift ed on Wednesday, said “During the past two and a Popular sea products like ies, none of the fishing boats ernments to closely monitor Administration of Fujian boards made by aluminum local fi shery authorities. half months, small fish grew lobsters and sea snails could in Guangdong broke any rules the typhoons and their eff ect province issued a maritime alloy (for further blocking up) The fishing ban started on large. Every year we will have a be easily found in the Xisha during the ban period. on major rivers, and publicize alert on Monday, updating and extra drainage pumps just May 16 and ended at mid- harvest of 10 to 20 tons aft er the Islands, and fi sh in the area are And more than 20,000 relevant information in a time- the typhoon information via in case,” Zhang said. day on Wednesday. The ban fi shing ban is lift ed. Aft er Sep- much larger than those in off - law enforcement personnel ly manner. VHF communication radio Feng Hao, spokesman for is part of ongoing efforts to tember, we will fi sh near Beibu shore areas, the captain said. and 4,000 enforcement ves- Wen made the remarks in and short-message services to Shanghai Shentong Metro protect marine resources and Gulf of Guangxi, and then go Chen said with more ships sels patrolled the Guangdong Zhengzhou, Henan province, warn boats. Group Co, said speed restric- promote environmental aware- to the Xisha Islands in Sansha fi shing because the ban is lift ed, waters to prevent local fi sher- during his inspection of eff orts The Fujian provincial tions would be applied to ness among fi shermen, Huang city,” Lin told China Daily on the price of sea products will men from violating the fi shing to prevent fl ooding in the Yel- department of ocean and fi sh- Shanghai’s metros if the aver- Zuoping, an official from the Wednesday. drop in the short term. ban, Zheng said. low River, according to Xinhua eries said on Wednesday that age speed of the wind reaches South China Sea fi shery bureau Lin’s ship had just finished With the establishment of In East China’s Fujian prov- News Agency. more than 41,000 fi shing boats 17.2 meters per second or under the Ministry of Agricul- an ocean fi shing operation in Sansha city in July, Chen hopes ince, a fishing ban was also “Ensuring people’s safety had been ordered to return to above. “Metro stations may be ture, told China Daily. the Nansha Islands from July more processing factories will expected to end on Wednes- should be prioritized,” he said, port. It said 8,094 people have even temporarily shut down if In Yangjiang, a port city in 12 to July 29 as part of a trial to be established in the new city, day, but as the coast is expected adding that local authori- been relocated as the typhoon necessary,” he said. western Guangdong province, develop the industry in Nansha, which could save fishermen to be battered by gales and ties should intensify efforts approaches. Wind meters were installed more than 1,000 fi shing boats which has abundant fishing time and money. rainstorms brought about by to guard residential areas, On Tuesday, fl ights between for the fi rst time at some of the headed out to sea on Wednes- resources. Most of the area is Th e fi shing ban in the South typhoon Saola from Wednes- schools, factories, mines, rail- Xiamen and Jinmen, and metro’s Line 2 stations, Feng day for the fi rst time since their excluded in the annual fi shing China Sea, which has been day to Sunday, the ban was ways, highways, and tourism Quanzhou and Jinmen, have said. Th e wind-meter readings forced two-and-a-half-month ban. in place since 1999, has been extended in order to protect spots from fl oods. been canceled because of go directly to the station con- break, after Liu Kun, a dep- According to fi shery authori- imposed for two and a half local fishermen, the fishery Th e State Flood Control and Saola. trol room, he added. uty governor of Guangdong, ties in Hainan, the 18-day months since 2009, and covers authorities of Fujian said. Drought Relief Headquar- The operation of the pas- announced the opening of the operation to Nansha marked areas north of the 12th paral- ters said on Tuesday that the senger liners Haixia, which Contact the writers at jinzhu@ province’s fi shing festival. the beginning of the province lel north, including Huangyan Contact the writers at upcoming two typhoons are links Fujian province’s Pingtan chinadaily.com.cn and shiyin- From Wednesday, more than gradually moving from off- Island but excluding most of the [email protected] very likely to move further county and Taiwan’s Taichung [email protected]. 14,000 fi shing boats registered shore fi shing to ocean fi shing. Nansha Islands. and huangyiming@ inland after landing on the city, and Cosco Star, which in Guangdong province will Chen Yiping, who owns a Fishermen who ignore the chinadaily.com.cn coastal regions. travels between Xiamen and Sun Li in Fuzhou and Cang start their journey to the South 110-ton ship Qionghai 03889, ban will face punishments Strong winds and heavy Keelong, were also suspended Wei in Nanjing contributed to China Sea to fi sh, Liu said. started his ocean fi shing opera- such as fi nes, license revoca- Zheng Caixiong in Guangzhou rains from the typhoons may for safety concerns. this story. In Hainan province, about tion on Wednesday aft ernoon tions, confi scations and pos- contributed to this story.