Haikou City, Hainan Province, south China - Feb 23, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Aerial shot of stranded vehicles on road near port on Tuesday (L), Friday (R)
2. Night shot of make-shift kitchens along roadside
3. Vehicles
4. Ferry
5. Aerial shots of traffic

Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, south China - Feb 22, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of passengers, vehicles disembarking from ferry
7. Aerial shot of vehicles waiting at toll gate
8. Various of vehicles at toll gate
9. Employee handing out tickets to drivers
10. Passengers disembarking from ferry

Ports at both ends of the Qiongzhou Strait between provinces of Hainan and Guangdong are running around the clock to cope with the massive number of vehicles stranded in Haikou City of south China's Hainan Province.

Hainan, known for its tropical climate and clean air, is a popular destination for Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday. During the week-long Spring Festival in 2017, the province received 5.15 million tourists, according to the provincial tourism bureau. This year the island received 5.67 million tourists during the holiday week, up 10 percent over last year.

Tourists returning home from their holiday found themselves stuck in a massive traffic jam when travel along the Qiongzhou Strait was suspended Wednesday night due to heavy fog. Ferries resumed on Thursday morning as visibility improved, but a backlog of traffic remains.

Nearly 8,000 vehicles were shipped out from 08:00 to 18:00 on Friday. However, as of 18:00 on Friday, nearly 13,000 vehicles were still waiting for the ferry at Xiuying Port, a slight increase from Thursday as travelers continued to arrive throughout the day.

The waiting time has been reduced from 20 hours to eight hours.

Vehicles were asked to leave Xuwen Port in Guangdong Province as soon as possible to make room for arriving vehicles. The port is expected to receive more arrivals on Saturday.

Haikou's Civil Affairs Bureau distributed mineral water and food such as biscuits, instant noodles, steamed buns, bread and snacks to stranded travelers. A total of 1,700 quilts were also sent to rescue stations.

The city's traffic authorities estimate that around 50,000 vehicles are expected to leave through the ports, and the traffic jams will continue for another two days.