Golden Week 黄金周 (huang jin zhou)

"Golden Week" refers to the two weeklong holidays, one during Spring Festival, the other for the National Day from Oct 1 to Oct 7. This year, the Golden Week has grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with many people recounting their frustrating travel experiences.

Although people returned to work this week, many of them are still talking about the massive traffic jams, "uncivilized" behaviors of fellow tourists, inflated prices, and the damage to scenic spots and the environment.

For example, on Oct 2, about 40,000 tourists flocked to Jiuzhaigou Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sichuan province. But because of overcrowding, more than 4,000 tourists couldn't enter the nature reserve for about 10 hours.

No wonder, some netizens have dubbed the "Golden Week" as the "Golden Mess". Others say that people should enjoy a "staycation" instead of a vacation during the seven days.

Official figures show that 428 million tourists traveled across China during the seven days, generating a revenue of 223.3 billion yuan ($36.5 billion), which is welcome.

But the chaos created during the two "Golden Week" holidays has prompted some experts to suggest that the authorities stagger the mandated holidays. Others say the government would do well to restore the "Golden Week" May Day holiday to ease the pressure on infrastructure and tourist sites during the two existing "Golden Weeks".

(China Daily USA 10/11/2013 page16)