On Feb 4, four days before Spring Festival, I drove from the downtown area of Fuyang, Anhui province, to Linquan county.

I was told the 65-kilometer road trip would take me an hour at most, but it was more than two hours before I arrived at Chengguan township, where the county's government lies.

Cars were lined up along the road, which passes by many rural markets, and we were impeded by many tractors, electric motorbikes, electrical tricycles and pedestrians during the trip.