"D. Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
On 8/24/10 24:46 , wrote:
On Aug 23, 7:36 pm, wrote:
Only the Toyotas kept on going.
cuhulin

What is their mysterious energy source?


Arrogance.

Many Asian countries have traffic problems like this a few times a year.
This time of year, it's the the annual lemming vacation.. where everyone in
the country takes the same two to three week period for vacation. Here in
Korea, entire towns turn basically into ghost towns as everyone leaves town
en-masse to visit family (one wonders if the family are also on the road.. I
know the traffic is pretty ugly during the beginning and end of the period.)

Two other such times, though shorter (and therefor more traffic intense) are
Lunar (or Chinese) New Year and harvest festival (in Korea this one is
called Chu-Sok or Korean Thanksgiving.. the latter mostly by US military and
expats). Both of these are three day celebrations of the advent of the 400Km
long parking lot.

They spoke today on the news about farmers and such that live along the
expressway in China bringing out food, drink and goodies to the captive
motorists... this is not unusual, either. During Lunar New Year and Chu-Sok,
there are regular stands set up beside the expressways (where pedestrians,
bicycles and motorcycles are not even normally allowed) and wind their way
through the idle traffic selling popsicles, ice cream cones, various soy
based treats and rice cakes at prices well above the going rate. We carry
our own drinks and snacks when we HAVE to be out on such days... mostly we
opt to stay home.

On Aug 24, 3:59*am, "Brenda Ann"
wrote:
"D. Peter Maus" wrote in ...

On 8/24/10 24:46 , wrote:
On Aug 23, 7:36 pm, wrote:
Only the Toyotas kept on going.
cuhulin

What is their mysterious energy source?

* Arrogance.

Many Asian countries have traffic problems like this a few times a year.

Traffic Jam in China: Bloomberg Says Coal is the Reason Why

http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=htt...1SUNdWPG Dlxw

Chinese Demand for Coal Spurs 9-Day Traffic Jam on Expressway
August 24, 2010, 2:37 AM EDT

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese demand for coal to produce electricity
for the world’s fastest-growing major economy is creating traffic
jams
lasting as long as nine days on roads connecting mines in the
nation’s
hinterland to its eastern ports.

Thousands of trucks were stuck along the Beijing-Tibet Expressway for
as many as nine days, China Business News reported today. The
blockage, which began to ease yesterday, was created by a surge in
trucks carrying coal from the province of Inner Mongolia, the
newspaper reported. Road maintenance since Aug. 19 has been a major
cause of the congestion, the Global Times newspaper said today.

Inner Mongolia passed Shanxi province last year to become China’s
biggest coal supplier after the government closed mines on safety
concerns following a series of deadly accidents in Shanxi. A dearth
of
railway capacity connecting Inner Mongolia to port cities such as
Caofeidian, Qinhuangdao and Tianjin, where coal is shipped to power
plants in southern China, has forced suppliers to rely on trucks.

“The situation may ease in three or four years, when rail capacity
from Inner Mongolia to Caofeidian gets upgraded and the new rail line
to Liaoning province starts,” David Fang, a director at the China
Coal
Transport and Distribution Association, said by telephone today.

China plans to build a 300-kilometer (190-mile) railway from Inner
Mongolia to Huludao city in Liaoning, the official Xinhua News Agency
reported in March.