Rise in complaints over the holiday

Shanghai's market watchdog received 1,406 complaints and tips-off over the four-day May Day holiday, an increase of 11 percent from the same period last year.

Of those, 287 were related to catering and accommodation, with smoking, poor hygiene, food safety, price scams in restaurants and disputes over hotel reservations angering customers, Shanghai Market Supervision and Management Bureau said on Saturday.

A tourist surnamed Xue complained he was told his reservation could not be found when he arrived at a hotel in Tangshan, Hebei Province, despite having booked online. 

Another customer surnamed Wang said he was not allowed into Changzhou Dinosaur Land after booking online due to a ticketing operation failure.

And an airline passenger surnamed Yang said he was told his online booking for a round-trip from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province to Bangkok could not be found when he arrived at the airport, according to the bureau.

There were 155 complaints about food quality and fake promotions and 62 about clothing that was sub-standard or mislabeled.

Forty-five complaints were related to vehicles, including abnormal sounding brakes, steering wheel problems and excessive formaldehyde inside cars.

The complaints and tips-off are being handled by district market watchdogs and consumer councils, the bureau said.