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BEIJING – China is bracing for a record-high travel rush over the Labour Day holiday.

Popular sightseeing spots are selling out of tickets, and some cities are warning would-be visitors away as domestic tourism rebounds after Beijing ended Covid-19 curbs.

The authorities are expecting 19 million trips to be made across Chinas vast railway network on Saturday, the first day of the five-day holiday.

That would be the highest number of rail trips made in a single day in the countrys history.

On May 1 last year, 4.4 million rail trips were made. That was also the period when China locked down several cities including Shanghai to battle the spread of the virus.

The last peak on the same day was in 2021, when 18.8 million such trips were made.

Over the 40-day Chinese New Year travel period in January-February this year, 348 million trips were made in total, or about 8.7 million trips a day on average, according to the National Railway Administration.

The May holiday is far shorter than the Chinese New Year and October Golden Week holidays.

But it is traditionally still one of Chinas busiest travel seasons as spring moves into summer.

This year, the holiday is crucial for the tourism industry as well as the wider Chinese economy as the country strives to recover from years of virus disruptions.

It took me a lot of effort to get a ticket, its hard this time, said Ms Di Jingshu, 21, as she waited for a train at Shanghais packed Hongqiao railway station on Thursday.

Chinas aviation authority said it expects air passenger trips to reach a total of nine million over the five days.

Booking sites for popular scenic spots, such as Beijings Old Summer Palace and the Badaling section of the Great Wall showed they were sold out of tickets for the first few days of the Labour Day holiday.

Trip.com Group said that reservations across its online travel platform had surpassed 2019 levels. More On This Topic China to scrap PCR test for inbound travellers Chinese travel is set to return, but the question is when? One small city, Zibo, in Chinas coastal Shandong province, which has gone viral on Chinese social media in recent weeks for its local barbecue cuisine, imposed an upper limit on Sunday on hotel room rates.

Three days later, it issued a public letter warning would-be visitors its downtown hotels were fully booked.

Passenger traffic has exceeded our accommodation capacity, it said, pleading for understanding should service levels fall short given the anticipated swelling of visitor numbers.

Outbound travel for the holiday however continues to remain constrained, in part due to a shortage of international flights.

Bright spots were emerging, however, in cities such as Macau and Jakarta, according to a report from travel data firm ForwardKeys.

Bookings for outbound travel are around 50 per cent behind the pre-pandemic levels, it said. Chinese travellers have started to travel abroad but are still preferring destinations within the Asia Pacific region. REUTERS More On This Topic No spike in Chinas Covid-19 cases so far despite CNY travel rush Chinese airlines swamped with cabin crew applicants as travel rebounds

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Trump signs resolution killing IRS DeFi broker rule

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Trump signs resolution killing IRS DeFi broker rule

Trump signs resolution killing IRS DeFi broker rule

US President Donald Trump on April 10 signed a joint Congressional resolution overturning a Biden-era rule that requires decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report to the country’s tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service.

The rule would have required DeFi platforms, such as decentralized exchanges, to file their gross proceeds from crypto sales and include information on those involved in the transactions.

Trump was widely expected to sign the bill, as White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said in March that the president would support killing the measure.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

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Environment

This electric excavator has battery swap tech that lets it recharge in minutes [update]

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This electric excavator has battery swap tech that lets it recharge in minutes [update]

The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.

UPDATE: telematics announcement.

Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.

XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.

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We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).

XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?

Easy in, easy out

XCMG battery swap crane; via Etrucks New Zealand.

The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.

You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.

Telematics announcement at bauma

XCMG showcases green, smart tech at bauma 2025; via XCMG.

Earlier today, XCMG launched its next-generation Xrea Global Telematics Platform, integrating IoT, big data, cloud computing, and AI to enable what it’s caling, “seamless cross-border fleet management.”

The new telematics platform supports a dozen languages via PC and mobile interfaces, and offers real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and data-driven optimization of both the vehicle and the vehicle’s batteries, empowering equipment managers and fleet operators to track fleets across town, or across time zones.

“XCMG remains committed to advancing engineering technology to empower a sustainable future. Our mission is to deliver efficient, intelligent, and eco-friendly lifecycle solutions for global clients,” said Mr. Yang Dongsheng, Chairman of XCMG Group and XCMG Machinery. “Today, 19% of our product portfolio comprises green innovations under our ‘Green Mountain’ new energy line, with full electrification across all series underway.”

SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG; via PR Newswire.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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Environment

Tesla (TSLA) is having a terrible month, and it’s only April 10th!

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Tesla (TSLA) is having a terrible month, and it's only April 10th!

On today’s troubling episode of Quick Charge, we explore all the troubles befalling Tesla (and TSLA stock) in the month April – with top executives fleeing the ship, demand plummeting, sales slipping, government incentives at home and abroad under threat, and a raft of receipts brought on by an OpenAI lawsuit hitting the brand, it’s already a bad month for Elon … and there’s still 20 more days to go!

None of this even touches on the $43 million “backlogged” rebate scandal Tesla’s facing in Canada that’s being blamed for people’s negative attitudes about the brand (ha!) or the fact that neither the long-promised Roadster 2.0 or the Tesla Semi will see production anytime this year, either.

The word you’re looking for when you think of Tesla these days is, “cooked.”

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

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