3.62 billion Trips: by 400,000 flights, 860,000 buses, 21,000 ships. 258 million by train.
According to tradition of Chinese New Year, millions of Chinese have already begun their trip to head home and to be reunited with their families. More than 3.62 billion trips expected to be made on roads, and via trains, planes and ships in the next 40 days.
The staggering figur is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival transportation, the largest seasonal human migration on the globe. Chinese authorities have taken contingencies to ensure a smooth beginning of the 40-day travel period around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 31 this year.
About 3.62 billion trips will be made across the country, including more than 258 million people who are expected to travel by rail. On Thursday, signs about the holiday travel period could be seen in bus and train stations up and down the country, with more members of staff and volunteers on hand to maintain order.
Beijing railway authorities arranged 31 more passenger trains, with an estimated 620,000 passengers expected to depart the capital on Thursday.
A total of 124 fare gates were open to cut queuing times. Large shelters have been built in front of
GuangZhou Railway Station, a transportation hub in the populous Pearl River delta region. Under them, hundreds of passengers slowly streamed into the station under instruction.
With a large migrant population in the region, the railway station expected to handle 130,000 passengers on Thursday, according to Yi Jianbo, head of the
GuangZhou Railway Station. Newly opened high-speed rail lines will help tackle the travel rush in Guangzhou, including the world's longest linking
Beijing and the Guangdong capital. About 2.4 million passengers will travel on the Beijing-Guangzhou line, up 21.5 percent from the same period last year, according to Zhang Zhe, head of
GuangZhou South Railway Station.
During the period, many Chinese will travel by road. Officials and experts said the country's road transport network will be put under great pressure, especially with heavy smog which has frequently affected China this winter. Cao Rongxiang, a Beijing-based researcher of climate policy, said smog and icy weather would pose challenges. "Government departments should have emergency plans in place to deal with situations like road closures and accidents," said Cao.
A total of 860,000 coaches will be traveling on roads and 21,000 ships will be sailing, according to sources with the Ministry of Transport. More than 400,000 flights will take people to destinations during the period.
Spring Festival is the most important holiday for the Chinese to travel for family reunion. "There is nothing more joyful than going home to celebrate the new year with my family," college student Zhang Shuai said on Thursday while waiting for a home-bound train at
Xining Railway Station in the capital city of northwest China's Qinghai Province.
The number of Chinese people traveling overseas last year surged, thanks to economic growth and the strong yuan, according to data released Friday. In 2013, Chinese tourists made a total of 98.2 million trips overseas, climbing 18 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Tourism Administration (NTA). Domestic trips rose 10.3 percent to 3.26 billion, while trips in China by foreign tourists declined 2.5 percent year on year to 129 million, the NTA said. Total tourism revenue rose 14 percent to 2.95 trillion yuan (about 480 billion U.S. dollars).
The authority did not specify any reasons behind the rise in overseas travel, but a report earlier this month by the China Tourism Academy offered some clues. The report forecast an increase in overseas trips due to China's relatively strong economic growth, the appreciation of the yuan and the rising attractiveness of surrounding countries and regions to tourists.
