Road and rail use surges at the end of the longest holiday of the year
More than 21 million air users observed
With about 800 million people moving from China for the 8-day National Day holiday, it is expected that a large number of people will return using highways and railways at the end of the holiday.
Chinese state media Global Times announced on the 5th that the number of users of China’s highways, railways, and airlines is rapidly increasing as the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays end on the 6th.
This year’s Chinese National Day holiday was the longest holiday of the year, lasting from the 29th of last month to the 6th of this month. Accordingly, starting on the 4th, the last day of the holiday, people and vehicles moving from major tourist destinations to highways began to gather.
According to the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China, on the sixth day of the holiday, highway traffic increased by 8.8% compared to the previous month. Authorities predicted that traffic on the return route would increase further from the 5th, especially on roads around cities in key areas such as Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta.
The number of railway users is also increasing noticeably. According to China Railway, a state-owned railway operator, the number of train users was estimated at 17.05 million on the 4th and 17.95 million on the 5th.
The airport is also expected to see its peak number of returning passengers on the 5th to 6th, the last day of the holiday season. The Civil Aviation Administration of China predicted that more than 17,000 flights would be operated per day on average during the holiday period, and that more than 21 million people would use flights.
Meanwhile, China estimates that approximately 800 million people will travel during this eight-day holiday. It is analyzed that the most active movement in recent years is continuing due to the increased travel demand and the effects of the Asian Games.
China’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism predicts that this year’s domestic tourism revenue will reach 782.5 billion yuan (about $107.2 billion), a 138% increase over the previous year.
Dai Bin, president of the Chinese Tourism Association, predicted that an average of more than 100 million people would travel across the country each day during this holiday, saying, “It will be the hottest golden holiday in history.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.