China on Vacation?

Sabastian Peake, Reporter

As the beginning of October arrives, millions of people are expected to crowd trains, highways, and planes for the National Day holiday, which is one of the busiest and largest times for travel in China. Since China emerged from the pandemic, this 8-day break is the country’s first massive holiday.  This time last year, over 700 million domestic trips were made, bringing in around $90 billion in tourism revenue. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism predicts that over 500 million trips will be made this year. This seems almost impossible to think about in places like the U.S and Europe. However, due to Chinas very strict border control measures, the local transmission rate of COVID-19 is almost 0. Since around August, China has kept the Coronavirus under substantial control with very little cases and small outbreaks. Sometime last week, China had two port workers who both tested positive during the routinely tests. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated last week that all cities in mainland China are low risk so that travel will be arranged as normal, but they still recommend that travelers wear masks in crowded places and keep a distance of at least 3.2 feet away from person to person.