3 billion trips in 40 days: China begins Lunar New Year mass migration
- Hundreds of millions of people will travel across the country for family reunions
It is that time of year again, when hundreds of millions of people will travel across China by rail, road, plane and, in some cases, on foot, to reunite with their families in their hometowns for the Lunar New Year.
In this year’s Spring Festival travel season, known as chunyun in China, a total of 2.99 billion trips are expected to take place, up 0.6 per cent from 2018. The season runs from January 21 to March 1, with the first day of the Year of the Pig on February 5.
As with previous years, the number of train services and other transport options will be increased to accommodate the massive flow of people.
On the railway network, that will mean 4,787 train services before the festival and 4,860 after – 5.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent more than last year, respectively.
Similarly, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has scheduled 532,000 flights during those 40 days, 10 per cent more than the previous Lunar New Year rush. A total of 73 million plane trips are expected to be taken in the period, up 12 per cent from 2018.
State media has already begun releasing images of bullet trains being checked and maintained – some by police dogs – in preparation for the travel season.