The exodus begins
The 40-day period starting from February 3 and ending on March 14 this year is called Spring Festival travel season, or chunyun. Huge numbers of passengers, including migrant workers, college students and those working outside their hometown, journey home to reunite with their families to celebrate Spring Festival, the most important festival in China.
The majority of passengers still depend on trains for their long-distance journeys, which are a cheaper alternative to buses and planes.
The Ministry of Railways estimates about 156 million Chinese will take trains during this year's chunyun period, up by 4.3 percent over last year. The peak time for passenger transport before the festival start today and ends on Friday. Passenger flows will mainly start from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to other cities around the country.
China Daily
(China Daily 02/13/2007 page20)
