Spring Festival travel rush starts on cultural note

Construction worker Liu, seated inside train K4069, felt a rush of excitement as the platform clock at Beijing West Railway Station struck 12:40 am and the whistle blew on cue. He was on board the first passenger train to depart from the Chinese capital as part of the Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, which started on Monday.

"I've been busy all year, and now I can finally visit home," Liu said. "Knowing that this is the first train to depart from Beijing during chunyun makes my journey more thrilling."

The packed K4069, a temporary train service added for the holiday season to link Beijing with Nanchang, Jiangxi province, mirrored the sheer scale of passenger movements by rail, road, air and sea on the first day of the 40-day travel rush, which will continue until March 13.

According to data collected by the Ministry of Transport, China recorded an estimated 188 million cross-regional trips on Monday, up 13 percent year-on-year. While the railways handled about 12 million trips, civil aviation authorities recorded roughly 2.19 million. The traffic was heavier on highways, as many Chinese people prefer to drive home or to holiday destinations to mark Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 17 this year.

The Spring Festival travel rush in China is the world's largest recurring movement of people. This year, the overall scale and the daily peaks are both expected to surpass previous records. Official estimates suggest that chunyun will generate a record 9.5 billion cross-regional trips, with rail journeys expected to total about 540 million and air travel about 95 million. As the public holiday period runs from Feb 15 to 23, the concentration of trips is likely to be higher during these days.

On Monday, the huge departure hall at Beijing west station saw a steady flow of passengers. Some paused for photo-ops near a Chinese zodiac installation to mark the upcoming Year of the Horse, while others toured an exhibition tracing the station's 30-year transformation.

According to China Railway Beijing Group, the station is estimated to have handled about 145,000 passenger trips on the first day of chunyun, and it is expected to record more than 5.15 million trips over the entire 40-day period.

The station has introduced a new air-rail intermodal services, allowing passengers to check in for selected China Eastern Airlines flights on the premises before transferring by train to Beijing Daxing International Airport.

At Daxing airport, lanterns and cultural displays lined corridors, while pop-up new year markets and themed boarding gates accentuated the holiday mood. Chinese airlines have scaled up capacities to match the travel rush demand. Air China said it plans to operate more than 70,000 passenger flights during chunyun, up more than 10 percent year-on-year, with a daily average of around 1,800 flights.

At some transportation hubs in eastern China, the first day of chunyun recorded high cultural vibes. Nanchang East Railway Station, for example, saw performers stage lively kuaiban — rapidly spoken verses punctuated by wooden clappers — alongside excerpts from Jiangxi's tea-picking opera. "I didn't expect waiting for a train to feel like this. It feels so warm and welcoming," said traveler Wang Yueyi.

Behind these festive scenes in China lies serious coordination, involving more than 20 government departments. Gao Bo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, said that from Feb 15 to 23, highways will be toll-free for small passenger vehicles while ferry routes, such as the Qiongzhou Strait, will receive additional capacity support. More than 71,000 electric vehicle charging piles are now available at freeway service areas nationwide, he added.