China rumbles as millions head home for Lunar New Year

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 07, 2004

China rumbles as millions head home for Lunar New Year

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Tens of millions of Chinese queued Wednesday in airports, bus stations and railway stations to get a ticket or squeeze on planes, buses or trains as China began its annual mass passenger transportation before its traditional Lunar New Year.

Chinese travelers will make an unprecedented 1.89 billion journeys by bus, train, air or ship during the peak travel season, which will start on Wednesday, according to estimates by the ministries of railways and communications.

The annual exodus from cities to home provinces this year will see 60 million more trips than last year, a mass migration that put a population the size of about eight United States on the move.

Thousands of migrant workers queued up the whole night in Shenzhen City of southern China's Guangdong Province in order to get a ticket back home in the run-up to the Spring Festival holiday season, forming a 5-km-long line at a stadium square, where the tickets were sold.

In Guangzhou Railway Station, one of China's busiest ports, the passenger flow has soared to a record number of 100,000 on Wednesday, some 30,000 more than the first day of "Chunyun (Spring transportation)" season, or the peak travel period before the Spring Festival last year.

"The passenger flow on trains is skyrocketing very quickly this year, soaring from 50,000 a day on Jan. 1 to over 80,000 now," said Zou Weizhen, deputy director of a ticket selling center in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

Zou said the school holidays and the exodus by migrant workers from cities to home provinces also added to the travel pressure for tens of millions of people who were eager to reunite with their family during the Chinese Lunar New Year, which occurs on Jan. 22.

Passenger safety and the prevention of a possible SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak will top the priorities of authorities during the season after the first SARS case was reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday in Guangdong.

All passengers have to have their body temperature checked and their luggage X-rayed before boarding planes, trains or buses while overloading will also be closely monitored.

Though ticket prices have been raised 15 to 20 percent, many railway tickets had been sold out in China's capital Beijing.

"I'm a little homesick since I have not gone back home for two years," said 39-year-old Chen Tianliang, a migrant worker from east China's Jiangsu Province waiting for his train in Beijing Railway Station.

"I'd like to take a train rather than plane because I have to save some money for my kid's education," said Chen, who has been working at Beijing's construction sites for 10 years.

Railway passengers are expected to make 137 million journeys during the 40-day peak season, 2.7 million more than last year. Journeys by bus will rise by 3 percent to 1.7 billion and trips by boat will remain steady at 26 million. Journeys by air will increase by 9.6 percent to 10.5 million.

The Ministry of Railways has arranged 150 temporary passenger trains before the Spring Festival and 210 temporary trains after, 25 more than last year, said Vice-Minister Hu Yadong.

All local traffic departments have been urged to inspect drivers' licenses and vehicles. They are also required to issue certificates to buses temporarily added for Spring Festival and give special training to drivers.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China has called on airlines to strengthen training of air crew, especially in adverse weather, to ensure the safe and orderly operation of flights during the peak travel season.

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