China enters world's largest annual 'migration'

“Chunyun” is the term used to describe the travel of Chinese people during the 40-day period before and after the Lunar New Year. The trips take place in two directions: before the festival, people from big cities return to their hometowns to celebrate the festival, and after the festival, they return to the city to work. “Chunyun” is often considered the world’s largest annual migration, with billions of trips made by road, rail, water and air.

This year's "Chunyun" officially began on January 26 (December 16, 2023 lunar calendar) and will last until March 5 (January 25, 2024 lunar calendar), according to Chinese state media. The Chinese government expects to record 9 billion trips during this year's "Chunyun", nearly double the 4.7 billion trips during last year's "Chunyun" when China just lifted restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trains at a station in Shenyang city, Liaoning province, China on January 26.

According to CCTV, about 80% of the 9 billion trips are expected to be by private vehicle on the road, also a record.

Nearly 11 million trips are expected to be made by train, China’s main mode of transport, on January 26. Between January 26 and March 5, a total of 480 million train trips are expected to take place nationwide, up 38% from 2023 and up 17% from 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rail and air traffic surged on the first day of this year's "chun van" (spring transport) and passengers still had difficulty buying train tickets despite China having the world's largest high-speed rail network.

A railway station in Beijing on January 26.

CCTV reported that the number of air trips was estimated to have reached 2 million on January 26. According to China's aviation authority, during this year's peak travel season, the number of trips made by air is expected to reach 80 million, up 9.8% from 2019.

Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports expect passenger traffic to increase 57.6% year-on-year, while Beijing's airports forecast an increase of more than 60%.

China's aviation authority has arranged 2,500 additional flights to destinations in Asia including Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Extra trains and flights are also being arranged for popular domestic tourist destinations, including the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin and the southern city of Sanya on Hainan Island.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/trung-quoc-buoc-vao-cuoc-di-cu-thuong-nien-lon-nhat-the-gioi-185240126180759724.htm