Local newspaper Pingtan Times has interviewed a couple of people who worked during Spring Festival to keep things rolling as usual.

Man the fort

Traffic policeman She Jinxiang has gotten used to a restless Spring Festival. This year is no exception.

Generally there are an increasing number of traffic violations during the festival because more cars returning from outside Pingtan appear on the road. In order to maintain smooth traffic, She and his colleagues stuck to their posts, taking shifts to direct the traffic.

Pingtan’s traffic management authority has stepped up road patrols since Feb 4, the start of a 40-day travel rush, according to Lin Yibin, captain of a traffic management team, who added that drunk driving is being targeted in particular.

Be on call

It was 4 pm on Feb 18, the eve of Spring Festival. Chen Youtuan and his colleague just finished an early dinner at the Pingtan Power Supply Company. In the next few hours, they would stand by to guarantee stable power supply in the urban district.

“We’ve divided the district into four sections, with about 10 employees on each of them. They will deal with blackouts and other emergencies after receiving a report,” he said.

It was a special Spring Festival for Chen, as he would get married on the ninth day after the New Year. But he gave up precious time with his family and had to depend on them for the wedding ceremony preparations.

“It is nothing (to miss time with my family). Some of the senior colleagues at our company did not see their families on the eve of Spring Festival for more than two decades.”

The power supply company dedicated more than 300 employees across Pingtan, even including some outlying islets, on Spring Festival shifts to guarantee the power supply.