The Lunar New Year rang in on 10 February, kicking off the Year of the Dragon and the 15-day holiday called the Spring Festival. However, with preparations starting ahead of the New Year, the travel period around the festival, called “chun yun”, already started on 26 January in China and lasts for 40 days.
Last year, the Spring Festival came too soon after the scrapping of the zero-Covid policy and amid a new wave of infections for people to return to their travel habits, so only 4.7 billion trips were made during the holiday period. This year, with travel back in full force, 9 billion domestic trips are expected to be made during chun yun, surpassing 2019 levels. From the total 9 billion trips expected to be made by 5 March, 7.2 billion, or around 80%, will be taken in private vehicles, while only 1.8 billion will be made through trains, planes or boats and ferries.
“A record high 9 billion trips are expected to be made within China during the annual 40-day chun yun travel period […] with family reunions, sightseeing and leisure activities on the agenda”, the Ministry of Transport told South China Morning Post.
According to the Chinese Minister of Transport, from 26 January until 12 February, 3.5 billion trips were already made in China, as people usually travel from the big cities to smaller towns and rural areas to spend time with their families around the Lunar New Year. Only on 6 February, 232 million trips were made, from which 2.2 million by plane and 12.9 million by train, 17% and 23% more than in 2019, respectively.
Besides family reunions, cultural activities put on by local authorities are an additional incentive for people to travel around the country. Over 250,000 tourists flooded parks in Beijing on 10 February, according to local authorities, 153.78% more than last year and 56.41% more than in 2019. Shanghai too, thanks to its more than 200 new cultural activities organised from 10 to 17 February, received 1.73 million visitors just on the New Year’s Day, 4.58% more than in 2023, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.
In the first week of chun yun, domestic flight volumes had already exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 15%. Overall, during the 40-day travel period, 80 million trips are expected to be taken by plane, 9.8% more than in 2019. Airports are also prepared for record passenger numbers, airports in Shanghai and Beijing expecting 57.6% and 60% increases compared to 2023, respectively.
China’s railway operator also said the country’s railways are expected to handle a record 480 million passengers during this year’s travel period. An average of 12 million daily trips are expected to be taken by train, 37.9% more than in 2023 and 17% more than before the pandemic.
