Photo: finance.17ok.com

China’s annual Spring Festival travel rush, also known as “Chunyun” in Mandarin, kicked off on Monday and will last until March 1.

Some three billion trips were expected to take place during the period, up 0.6 percent from 2018 or the largest migration of provincial workers flocking back home to celebrate the traditional chines new year which falls on Feb 5 this year, news website the Paper reported.

Road trips take up a lion share at 2.46 billion, down 0.8 percent from 2018, while railway system expects 413 million trips, increasing 8.3 percent year on year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The aviation authorities plan to schedule 532,000 flights during the period, with air trips expected at 73 million, up 12 percent r 2018.

Boat trips will remain the same compared with that of past few years, according to the NDRC.

Things about ‘Chunyun’

“Chunyun” usually begins 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, the country’s most important traditional festival.

The number of trips during the Chunyun has expanded 30 times since 1979.

That record broke one billion in 1994 for the first time, exceeded two billion in 2006, and reached over three billion in 2012.

Under the tremendous transport pressure, the highway, railway, and civil aviation authorities have been stepping up efforts to upgrade infrastructure over the past four decades.