Off the wire
• Results of WCBA League  • 2nd LD: EP gives consent to EU-U.S. Data Protection Agreement  • China Exclusive: Mysterious human skeleton found in northwest China  • More needs to be done to combat HIV, says UNICEF  • Japan gov't ordered to pay more in damages over U.S. airbase noise  • Shelter needed for 400,000 IDPs in Syria's Aleppo: UN Envoy  • 16 feared killed in blast inside explosive factory in India  • 1 soldier killed, 3 others injured in central Somalia  • 1st LD: EP gives consent to EU-US Data Protection Agreement  • Urgent: EP gives consent to EU-US Data Protection Agreement  
You are here: 　 Home

Nearly 3 billion trips expected during Spring Festival in China

Xinhua, December 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Just shy of 3 billion trips are expected to be made by Chinese people during the Spring Festival travel rush in 2017, the Ministry of Transport said Thursday.

The number, which includes trips by road, rail, aviation and waterways, is 2.2 percent higher than the previous year, the ministry said.

The 40-day travel frenzy known as "Chunyun" is the hectic period surrounding the Chinese lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.

This year's Spring Festival falls on Jan. 28, 2017. "Chunyun" will begin on Jan. 13 and last until Feb. 21.

Spring Festival is the country's most important family holiday, with hundreds of millions of people heading to their hometowns to meet relatives and old friends, which puts huge stress on the transport system.

Chinese people have never been more affluent and keen to travel, nor have there ever been more migrant workers in cities far from home. Every year, stress on the transport system becomes greater and greater, despite great improvements in infrastructure over the last few years.

Transport networks -- road, rail, aviation and waterways -- have set new highs for "Chunyun" numbers almost every year for the past decade.

To reduce crowds during the rush and to boost transport efficiency, China has been stepping up construction of high-speed railways, which exceeded 20,000 km in total length this year, the world's longest high-speed railway system. Endi