It is estimated that 9 billion people! Spring Festival travel rush opens the ＂mobile China＂ full of vitality and scans the code to read the mobile version.

On January 14th, passengers stopped at Chongqing West Railway Station. Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Quanchao photo

On 14th, Spring Festival travel rush officially kicked off in 2025. A record-breaking "world’s largest population migration" with an estimated 9 billion person-times began to take place in China, and the "floating China" once again showed its full vitality.

According to the forecast of China’s transportation department, in the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, the cross-regional personnel flow of the whole society will reach 9 billion passengers, and the passenger traffic of railways and civil aviation is expected to exceed 510 million passengers and 90 million passengers respectively, both reaching record highs.

This year is the first Spring Festival travel rush after the successful application for World Heritage during the Spring Festival, and it is also the Spring Festival travel rush with an 8-day Spring Festival holiday. "The demand for travel such as visiting relatives and traveling will be further stimulated, and the passenger flow in Spring Festival travel rush will continue to grow on the basis of last year’s high base." Yang Zhusong, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University Institute of National Studies, said.

China has made joint efforts from many places and departments to ensure a convenient and warm trip to Spring Festival travel rush. Beijing railway station improves the way of passengers entering and leaving the station and improves the traffic efficiency; Shenzhen North Station cooperates with China Railway Express and Shenzhen Airport to set up service points. Passengers can check in and check their luggage immediately after getting off the high-speed rail.

The high-speed railway with a mileage of 48,000 kilometers is the main force in Spring Festival travel rush. In 2024, a new high-speed railway line of 2,457 kilometers was put into operation in China, making it more convenient for passengers to travel in Spring Festival travel rush.

In shanghai hongqiao railway station, Wang Qinran’s family took the G1627 train back to their hometown of Huzhou to visit relatives and have a holiday. The Shanghai-Suzhou-Lake high-speed railway connecting the Yangtze River Delta was opened at the end of 2024, and it only takes about one hour to return to Huzhou from Shanghai. "Not only is the driving time reduced by half than before, but the number of optional trains has also increased significantly. Spring Festival travel rush is very comfortable this year. " Wang Qinran said.

In 2025, self-driving travel will occupy the main position in Spring Festival travel rush, and it is estimated that the scale of cross-regional self-driving travel will reach 7.2 billion. With the successful application for the World Heritage in the Spring Festival, it has become a new year’s way for many people to bring their families to go on road trip and experience different folk customs in different places. According to the data of Zhongxin Tourism Group, the number of people traveling in the Spring Festival in 2025 is expected to increase by 46%.

Guo Wei and his family drove north from Tangshan, Hebei Province. On the first day in Spring Festival travel rush, he arrived in Fuxin, Liaoning Province to experience folk tourism. He was very interested in local activities such as paper-cutting and posting Spring Festival couplets.

On January 14th, passengers displayed their Spring Festival ornaments in the waiting hall of Guangzhou South Railway Station. Xinhua News Agency reporter Deng Hua photo

"The successful application for the World Heritage has added a special flavor to the Spring Festival." Guo Wei said that his trip to Spring Festival travel rush will continue in the next few days. "We plan to drive all the way to Harbin to deeply experience the folk customs of the Spring Festival in Northeast China".

Influenced by favorable factors such as the new policy of 240-hour visa-free transit and the increase of entry and exit ports for visa-free transit personnel, the popularity of "China Travel" has not diminished, and more and more foreign faces have appeared in the "Spring Festival travel rush Army". According to a report by Ctrip, the number of foreign tourists’ travel orders in China in the Spring Festival of 2025 increased by 203% year-on-year.

Polish tourist Magdalena and his family were waiting at Shanghai Pudong Airport on the 14th, preparing to fly to Shenyang to start a trip to Northeast China. In the next few days, they will also take the high-speed train to Anshan and other places.

"I have heard of Spring Festival travel rush in China, and it feels very special to catch up this time. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, appreciate the folk customs and have a different experience." Magdalena said.