Peaceful Chinese new year holiday on the road

BEIJING -- Chinese police on Saturday reported a peaceful new year holiday so far on the country's roads.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, there were neither major accidents nor long-hour jams anywhere in China during the first three days of the Spring Festival holiday, which will last until next Wednesday.

The Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important annual festival on the Chinese calendar. People return home to be with their families on the new year's eve and will usually take short trips for vacation.

On Saturday, traffic in some highways and around tourist sites began to pick up as people visited friends and relatives or went on outings, the ministry said.

It alerted police in eleven provinces of snow and fog forecast to reach central, eastern and southern parts of the country soon.

For the past three days, more than 150,000 police officers were mobilized across the country to make sure people have a smooth drive on the road.