50 Lane Traffic Jam

When half of the Chinese population hits the road at the same time, an endless traffic jam seems inevitable - as thousands of Beijing motorists found out yesterday.

Aerial footage has captured the horrendous congestion on a motorway leading to the Chinese capital when holidaymakers made their return journey near the end of National Day celebration.

The incredible gridlock, which took place on one of the country's busiest and widest highways, was caused by a new checkpoint, The jam began at around 2pm just outside the capital city on the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, which has 50 lanes. At the time, hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents were attempting to return home from their trips on the second to the last day of the week-long national holiday.

A mind-boggling video, shot by reporters from Legal Evening News, shows thousands of Beijing-bound vehicles being caught up near a toll for as far as eyes can see. Drivers and passengers chose to pass the time by strolling on the motorway. The congestion was caused by a new checkpoint at the other side of the toll, which reduced the width of the road from 50 to less than 20 lanes.

The shocking scenes were one of the many traffic nightmares across the country yesterday. Motorways in other major cities, such as Shanghai and Nanjing, also saw serious congestion.

Known as the 'Golden Week', the Chinese National Day celebration witnesses an explosion in tourism every year. It's one of the few opportunities for people to get time off work and enjoy a long-distance holiday.

China's National Tourism Administration estimated that more than 750 million Chinese would be on the move between October 1 and 7, which is half of the nation’s population.