City offers free parking to encourage filial piety

The city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province is encouraging residents to visit their families more often with free parking, the Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The new rule, which went into effect July 1, exempts filial drivers from parking fees for three hours in residential areas if they can prove to be visiting parents or children living in the area.

However, the rule does not specify exactly what is required for proof of a family visit, said the report.

Chinese authorities have taken numerous inventive measures to encourage people to visit family members.

Last July saw a law that required Chinese to visit their elderly relatives "more often," and for employers to provide up to 20 days of leave a year for family visits.