Travelers take advantage of options as rush gets underway

This year's Spring Festival travel rush, the world's largest annual human migration, kicked off on Tuesday, with over 9 billion cross-regional trips expected. Thanks to the rapid development of China's transportation sector, passengers now have more convenient and comfortable travel options.

The 40-day travel rush will end on Feb 22. According to the Ministry of Transport, an estimated 9 billion cross-regional trips are expected to take place, up 7 percent from the rush in 2024. Railway and air passenger numbers are expected to surpass 510 million and 90 million trips, respectively, both reaching historic highs. Road trips are projected to be the dominant mode of travel, accounting for 7.2 billion trips, or approximately 80 percent of all cross-regional movement.

On Tuesday, the total cross-regional travel volume was expected to reach 172.39 million trips. Of these, railway passenger volume stood at 10.3 million, highway travel at 159.52 million, waterway passenger volume at 530,000, and air passenger volume at 2.04 million, according to the ministry.

Huang Yue, one of the millions of travelers on Tuesday, embarked on a "travel experiment" to test a convenient alternative route for her future trips home.

Originally from Changbai Mountain in Jilin province, Huang works over 3,000 kilometers away in Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Her commute home is akin to traveling from Key West, at the southern tip of the United States, to Quebec City in Canada.

Typically, when Huang flies home, she endures a daylong journey with multiple transfers and overnight stays. This year, however, she opted for a sleeper bullet train. She boarded in Guangxi on Monday, transferred in Beijing on Tuesday and arrived in Changbaishan Railway Station at around 7 pm.

"It was my first time on a sleeper bullet train. It is very comfortable and provides some privacy," Huang said. "I even got a snack box. I recorded a vlog to share with my family."

Price was another deciding factor. Thanks to the less popular route between Guangxi and Beijing, she secured a 50 percent discount, paying about 1,300 yuan ($177.33) for the train ticket. A flight with a better schedule would have cost her over 2,000 yuan.

"In the past, discounted flight tickets often arrived late. I didn't want to trouble my parents with a late-night airport pickup," she explained. "Taking the train home is a great alternative."

Huang also shared a previous experience in which she flew to Changbaishan Airport with a transfer in Beijing.

"I slept at Beijing Daxing International Airport. The lounges and rest areas were convenient, and I really enjoyed transferring in Beijing.

"This time, although it was my first experience taking a sleeper bullet train, I wanted to see if it could become a convenient alternative for future trips home."