Less pomp, but same traffic woes for National Day

The first National Day of the Xi Jinping era was marked by relatively low-key public celebrations, but traffic was clogged as usual as two-thirds of a billion mainlanders hit the road for the "golden week" holiday.

Across the country, holiday events lacked of the pomp of recent years with government leaders going out of their way to reduce flower displays and other regalia in an effort to conform to Xi's anti-extravagance campaign.

Subdued state television reports focused on the Politburo's supreme Standing Committee sombre annual visit to the Tiananmen Square monument dedicated to those who lost their lives defending the country since the first opium war in 1840.

The restrained celebrations appeared in keeping with Xi's call to rein in official extravagance, which has been blamed for contributing to a culture of corruption in the ruling party.

In Tiananmen Square, the 18-metre-high floral display used silk petals left over from last year. Flower arrangements in and around the heart of the capital were also less elaborate and lush than usual, China National Radio reported.

Shijiazhuang had only two floral displays in its central square, using cheap flowers and plants in old pots. Tianjin cancelled grand flower floats and used less than one-fifth of flowers shown in previous years. Qingdao used many recyclable silk flowers and Zhengzhou had only 200,000 pots of flowers, one-tenth the number last year, China News Service reported.

The extravagant gala performances that were once a hallmark of national holidays were also toned down this year. Hunan province used grain threshing grounds in villages as venues for its holiday events, thereby saving nearly 40 million yuan (HK$50 million), according to China Central Television.