Holiday tourists swarm scenic spots

 Holiday tourists swarm¹ scenic² spots

XI'AN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Scenic sites around China have been overwhelmed by large numbers of visitors during the ongoing³ Golden Week holiday, triggering complains and criticism by netizens and tourists alike.

About 2,000 tourists were stranded⁴ Tuesday afternoon at a cablecar station on Huashan Mountain in northwest China's Shaanxi province, according to Weng Peng, an official from the scenic spot's management committee.

Some of the tourists protested and asked for a refund⁵ after waiting in line for more than three hours at the cablecar's return gate, Weng said.

The incident became a hot topic on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site, after some of the tourists posted pictures and microblog entries detailing their ordeal⁶.

Over 300 police and government employees, as well as a fleet of buses, were dispatched late Tuesday evening to pick up the stranded visitors.

"We are deeply sorry for the congestion⁷ that inconvenienced our visitors. We promise to improve our efforts to ensure smooth travel," read an entry on the mountain management committee's official microblog.

The committee said it initiated⁸ an emergency response plan on Monday evening to prepare for possible congestion, although it did not issue any alerts to tourists regarding the holiday travel peak.

A total of 119 scenic areas had received 6.04 million tourists as of Wednesday, up 30.64 percent year on year, according to official statistics.

Experts and netizens criticized the lack of travel alerts, as well as incomplete emergency response plans, that have led to congestion at scenic spots.

Some scenic area managers have forsaken⁹ their duties in favor of gaining economic benefit, according to Wang Degang, dean of the tourism management department of Shandong University, as the management committees fear that travel peak alerts might affect visitor flows and subsequently bring profits down.

"It is deceitful to continue to sell tickets after a scenic area's visitor volume has reached capacity," Wang Degang said.

Huashan Mountain was not the only scenic area that received an excessive number of visitors. Beijing's Imperial Palace, as well as the ancient town of Pingyao in north China's Shanxi province, both received five times as many visitors as they could handle, according to government data.

Local governments and management authorities should publicize travel alerts through websites, television broadcasts and microblog posts, said Shi Ying, deputy director of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences.

Local governments and scenic area managers are responsible for diverting visitor flows to different areas in accordance with the number of visitors they are receiving at the time, Shi said.

1 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

2 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

5 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

6 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

7 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

8 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

9 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。