国内英语新闻:China records 474 mln road trips during week-long holiday

BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China saw a record number of road trips by travelers during the week-long National Day holidays that started Oct.1, data from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) showed Thursday.

Travelers logged in a total of 474 million journeys on the roads between Oct. 1 and 7, up 10.9 percent from the same period last year, MOT spokesman He Jianzhong said, adding that the average figure per day was 67.71 million -- a new record high.

He said a big increase in short- and medium-distance trips for sightseeing and visits to families and friends contributed to the boom.

The country's transport authorities had to deploy 910,000 medium- and large-sized coaches nationwide per day to cope with the transport surge, he added.

The waterways sector recorded about 8.66 million journeys during the seven days, up 25 percent from a year earlier, he said.