Passengers arrange their luggage on a train heading from China's capital Beijing to southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 24, 2016. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

"It is predicted that China will greet 2.91 billion passengers during the Spring Festival travel season of 2016, an increase of 3.6 percent from the previous year," said Lian Weiliang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission on Jan. 19, 2016.

Passengers wait to board K4076 train, the first extra train for the 2016 Spring Festival travel rush from the railway station of Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, to Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Jan. 24, 2016. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Lian also pointed out six characteristics of 2016 Spring Festival travel, and stressed the arduousness of planning for the season during a videophone conference.

First, the number of passengers keeps growing, increasing by 100 million from 2015, which increases the challenges of transport capacity and service guarantees.

Second, despite the fact that 20 high-speed rails have been put into operation in the last year, and the operation mileage of national high-speed rails has reached 19,000 kilometers, it is still hard for people to get tickets to hot destinations during peak hours.

Third, with the improvement of people's living standards, there has been a rapid growth of demand for air travel. During Spring Festival travel this year, an average of 11,700 flights are scheduled for each day—an increase of 14.3 percent from last year. But the airports of major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, are already close to capacity, and are sure to see a sharp rise in the coming weeks.

Fourth, people have more demand for personalized and diversified services. No longer merely satisfied by getting tickets, passengers have more expectations of what it means to travel well. These upgraded expectations will become the new normal when it comes to travel demand.

Fifth, a number of severe accidents have happened in the recent past, which necessitate changes and add stress to the overall security situation.

Sixth, the strong El Niño phenomenon will appear this winter, according to meteorological predictions. Spring Festival travel faces even greater challenges when temperatures drop and snowy weather occurs in the northern regions. Heavy rain will also hit the southern regions of China, and there will be heavy haze days in the northern regions, such as Huang-Huai, Yangtze River and Huai River areas.

The top priority should be security this year, and all departments should strive to bring about a safe, warm and faithful Spring Festival travel season.

This article was edited and translated from 《2016年中国春运预计发送旅客29.1亿人次》. Source: www.chinanews.com. The author is Chen Su.