Responding to growing concern about traffic, pollution, and sanitation in Shanghai during the Chinese New Year holiday, city officials have announced a plan to ban half of the city's residents from leaving their homes every other day.

The plan calls for all residents with surnames Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Zhou, and Wu to stay inside their homes on even days of the month and all other residents to stay inside on odd days during the new year holiday.

“Many visitors will come to Shanghai for the first time during the New Year holiday," explained Wu Jianghua, official spokesperson of the Shanghai Human Circulation Harmony Planning Department. "We don't want them to have the impression that Shanghai is a dirty, overcrowded, exhausting place. We want them to be able to enjoy the city in a more natural state and leave with a positive impression."

In preparation, he continued, "residents are encouraged to stock up on essentials such as rice, water, cooking oil, and DVD box sets."