2025 China's Spring Festival travel rush starts with 9 bn trips expected

The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush (known as Chunyun) officially began today (Jan. 14). Millions of people across China are embarking on journeys to reunite with family for the Lunar New Year, a cherished tradition that symbolizes homecoming and celebration. This year's travel rush is particularly significant as China's Spring Festival has been added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity with an extended 8-day holiday.

Over the 40-day period, an estimated 9 billion trips are expected to occur across the country, underscoring the immense scale of the holiday migration. Key highlights include:

• Railways: Passenger trips are projected to surpass 510 million, with an average of 12.75 million daily trips, representing a 5.5% increase compared to 2024.
• Airlines: Air travel is set to hit a record high, with over 90 million passengers expected to take flights during the travel rush.
• Highways: Self-driving trips are anticipated to reach 7.2 billion, with highway traffic likely to hit historical peaks on certain days.

At 8:00 a.m. on Jan. 14, train tickets for Lunar New Year's Eve (Jan. 28) went on sale via the official 12306 railway ticketing platform. To meet surging demand, China's railway authorities have leveraged big data from 12306 to optimize transportation capacity. Additional trains have been scheduled for popular routes and time slots, ensuring a better match between travel demand and supply.

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