First four days of Chinese festival sees 324 million trips by road passengers

China’s massive annual exodus is underway with passengers making 324 million road trips in the first four days of “chunyun,” a 40-day period around the Spring Festival which this year falls on Jan 31, up 3.4 per cent on last year, according to data from the transport authority.

Road passengers, those who make trips on long-distance scheduled coaches, charted buses or tour coaches, rose 4.5 per cent year on year to 83.86 million on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

The ministry has forecast that Chinese passengers will make 3.62 billion trips during this year’s chunyun, with road trips reaching 3.2 billion to account for the vast bulk of the travelling as Chinese make their way home for family reunions to celebrate the lunar new year, and then back to their work places — usually in the big cities — as the holidays end.

The Spring Festival, or lunar new year, is the country’s most important traditional holiday for family reunions. Most people will go home for the festival, putting great pressure on the transportation system.

The chunyun, literally translated as “spring transportation”, will run this year from Jan 16 to Feb 24.