Costly air tickets and holiday packages for the National Day period

More than 11 million vehicles will use the city’s expressways during the National Day holiday next month, a 12 percent rise over the 2016 holiday, Shanghai Road Administration Bureau said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Railway Bureau announced 67 more trains to handle a surge of railway passengers during the holiday.

The railway bureau estimates that over 25 million passengers from the Yangtze River Delta region will take trains during the holiday, up 8.2 percent on last year.

Just as for the past six years, expressways will be toll-free to vehicles with not more than seven seats during the holiday, which amounts to eight days this year.

It’s estimated that September 30 and October 1 will be the busiest days for the city’s expressways and elevated roads, and on some sections the vehicle queues will stretch for up to 3 kilometers on the afternoon of September 30.

From 8am to noon on October 1, the heaviest congested areas in the outbound direction are predicted for G2, G40, G50, G15 and G60 expressways, as well as on some sections of the Middle Ring Road, Yan’an Elevated Road and Humin Elevated Road.

A 19 and 21 percent rise of the traffic volume on the city’s expressways over average workdays is expected respectively on September 30 and October 1.

The traffic peaks will return on the afternoons of October 7 and 8 when people come back to the city, and on some expressways linking Shanghai and neighboring provinces peak hours can last till after 8pm, according to Shanghai Road Administration Bureau.

The bureau advised residents to avoid traveling by car to out of town on September 30 and October 1 and to use public transportation wherever possible during the holiday.

The railway authority predicted that the largest number of passengers will be seen at railway terminals on October 1.

To meet surging demand, more trains to Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Nanchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou, among other cities, will depart from Shanghai from September 28 to October 8.

Air tickets on October 1 most expensive

A record number of tourists are expected over the holiday due to its longer duration this year (because the Mid Autumn Festival holiday coincides with the National Day week this year).

Customized and in-depth tours are the most popular choices, travel agencies said.

A record 650 million Chinese will travel within the country, and more than 6 million will visit overseas destinations during the holiday, Shanghai-based online travel operator Ctrip said.

During the holiday, the price of air tickets will also surge with the peak coming on October 1.

"It is a new trend because the highest price of air tickets usually appear on September 30 and drop daily since then during the holiday in the past, but the long holiday makes quite a number of tourists choose to fly on October 1," said Zhou Wu'an, an employee of Spring Airlines.

A ticket from Shanghai to Kunming, Yunnan Province, is priced at 1,660 yuan (US$255) on October 1, and it plummets to 350 yuan on October 10. While a ticket from Shanghai to Osaka, Japan, costs 5,070 yuan, and that price drops to 609 yuan after the holiday.

Cicy Li, a travel agency employee, will visit the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary with her parents during the holiday. She chose to ask for an annual leave one week before the holiday.

"It will allow me to have a 11-day journey and avoid the travel peak," she said. "Meanwhile, the price is also not that expensive."

Beijing, Shanghai, Sanya, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Chengdu and Chongqing are among the most popular domestic destinations, while Japan and Thailand are the top overseas destinations for Chinese independent travelers during the holiday, according to Mafengwo, a travel website.

Online travel operator Tongcheng said Russia, Canada, and island destinations like Maldives and Bali are also popular.

Shanghai Spring Tour said 12 to 14-day long in-depth trips to Europe and the United States are in demand because many tourists combine their annual leave with the eight-day holiday to go on a long vacation.

A 11-day tour to experience the Munich Oktoberfest and a 14-day tour to savor the culture and tradition of the Iberian Peninsula are among the most favored, the travel agency said.

The average price of a domestic tour package is 3,410 yuan during the holiday, up 21 percent from the same period last year — with Sanya on Hainan Island at 4,665 yuan, the most expensive. It is an average 7,906 yuan for an overseas package, a rise of 45 percent.