Over 1.36 billion passenger trips were made across China during the five-day May Day holiday, which ran from Wednesday to Sunday this year, according to data from the Ministry of Transport on Monday.
The data showed the cross-regional travel volume averaged more than 270 million trips per day, up 24.1 percent from the same period in 2019.
Of the total passenger trips, an estimated 91.499 million were made via railways, with an average of 18.3 million trips per day, while over 1.25 billion trips were anticipated via highways.
The number of passenger trips made via expressways and ordinary national and provincial highways for non-commercial vehicles was expected to reach over 1.08 billion, with a daily average of over 216.43 million. The number of commercial passenger trips reached an estimated 172.98 million.
The passenger trips made via waterways were expected to reach 7.1563 million, with a daily average of 1.4313 million, while the number of passengers traveling by air was expected to reach 9.86 million, with a daily average of 1.97 million.
Over 1.36 billion cross-regional trips made during May Day holiday in China
The depreciation of Japanese yen has caused an old coffee shop in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan to suffer rising financial strain due to surging import costs.
The coffee shop, with a 50-year history, is facing fund squeeze. The owner, 82-year-olld Hajime Yoneyama said that the depreciation has led to increased prices for imported raw materials, particularly coffee beans sourced mainly from Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia, resulting in a 20 percent surge in purchase costs.
"The purchase price (of coffee beans) has increased by 20 percent. I feel that the prices of vegetables and oil have also increased by at least 20 percent. Now the prices of these things continue to rise, with no sign of stopping. The expenditure situation of the store may become more severe in the future," said him.
Yoneyama said that he had to raise the prices to sustain the coffee shop's operation.
"Recently we had to raise the price. Previously, a cup of coffee cost 500 yen. It's no longer sustainable (without price increases) and now it's up to 600 yen," said the owner.
Furthermore, in an effort to cut costs, the elderly Yoneyama works with just one employee, yet the store business kept crippling. He said that a significant portion of his pension funds is used to cover store expenses and employee wages.
Locals worry that if the weak yen trend persists, the pressure on livelihoods will further intensify.
"The prices of everything are increasing, food, drink, vegetables. It would be great if there was a solution. Medical supplies are also an issue that needs to be considered. I do worry about what the future will bring," said a local resident.
"Not only are labor costs rising, but gas costs are also rising, so operators need to cut expenses, such as advertising expenses, and the work that they originally paid to hire people to do may now be borne entirely by the operators themselves," said another resident.
Japan’s time-honored coffee shop face fund squeeze due to weakening yen
