China traffic jam stretches 'nine days, 100km' Published duration 23 August 2010

media caption A woman caught up in the jam describes her ordeal

A massive traffic jam in China has slowed vehicles to a crawl for nine days near Beijing, local media say.

Vehicles, mostly lorries bound for Beijing, are in a queue for about 100km (62 miles) because of heavy traffic, road works and breakdowns.

The drivers have complained that locals were over-charging them for food and drink while they were stuck.

The situation has now "basically returned to normal," state television said on Monday.

There has been a boom in road building in China in recent years but vehicle use has soared at the same time.

The stalled traffic stretched between Jining in Inner Mongolia and Huai'an in Hebei province, north-west of Beijing, said the Global Times.

The road works which were obstructing traffic are necessary to repair damage caused by an increase in cargo lorries using the highway, the state-run newspaper said.

They are not expected to be finished until mid-September.

The motorway, part of the Beijing-Tibet expressway, is heavily used by lorries carrying coal from Inner Mongolia.