China expects record-high passenger trips during 2026 Spring Festival travel rush

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Inter-regional passenger trips across China during the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, are expected to reach a record high of 9.5 billion, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Thursday.

Self-driving trips will continue to dominate, accounting for about 80 percent of total travel, said Li Chunlin, deputy head of the NDRC, at a press conference.

Railway and civil aviation passenger volumes are projected to reach 540 million and 95 million, respectively, with both the overall scale and peak daily traffic expected to surpass historical levels, Li said.

This year's Spring Festival travel rush will run from Feb. 2 to March 13, lasting 40 days.

Each year during the Spring Festival travel rush, millions of people working, studying or living away from their hometowns return home for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.