This year’s Spring Festival travel rush, China's largest annual travel rush, has started yesterday and will last until February 25 this year. 

The number of railway passenger trips in the Yangtze River Delta region during the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush is expected to hit 50 million, a year-on-year growth of 16%.  

A passenger at Nanjing Railway Station. Photo/Shao Dan

There will be 301 more passenger trains putting into service in the region, China’s economic hub, as many people will travel to meet their families for the festival, Chinese Lunar New Year. 

Outside the Nanjing South Railway Station, passengers are reminded to get ready their travel documents including the health QR while COVID-19 responders check the information in turn. Inside the station, calligraphy masters have been invited to write Spring Festival couplets and the Chinese character Fu, meaning blessing or happiness, which are both the essential decoration for the most important festival of the year.  

The south station is expected to handle 5.12 million passengers, 32.8% higher from the holiday season last year. The station will disinfect equipment including gates and security check devices every two hours, and also improve the management of passenger flow to ensure the safety of passengers.  

The T1 departure hall at the Nanjing Lukou International Airport was in good order at 8:00 am on the first day of the travel rush. Passengers kept the distance from each other, and there were also clear signs on the requirement for negative nucleic acid test results taken within 48 hours for passengers to Beijing, Shenyang, Harbin and other cities. 

Among the passengers, Gao Yanmei, 65, and her husband said they will spend the festival in Wanning, a city of South China’s Hainan Province, where they bought a house years ago. Gao said she brings sanitizer and masks with her and will also be very cautious during the travel. 

Nanjing Lukou International Airport

At the ticket office of the Nanjing Coach Station, COVID-19 responders also improved efforts to ensure the travel safety, including the registration of the information of passengers without the QR code. Ji Juan, director of operations at the terminal, said more bus trips will be added in accordance with the needs during the 40-day travel rush.  

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