As the week-long National Day holiday entered its fifth day on Saturday, many holidaymakers across China have embarked on return trips by train, car and air, bringing holiday traffic flow to another peak.
Data from the Ministry of Transport showed that China is expected to deliver over 284 million cross-regional trips on Friday, with more than 17.95 million trips made by railway.
Since the beginning of the holiday travel rush on Sept. 29, the national railway network has already transported over 100 million passenger trips, with daily passenger flow consistently exceeding 17 million trips.
As the return passenger flow gradually increased starting Saturday, regional departments across the country have enhanced efforts to ensure transportation services during the period.
Expressways continued to see dense traffic across the country, especially in the metropolises of Shanghai and Guangdong Province's Guangzhou, as well as Changsha City of central China's Hunan Province and Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province.
Meanwhile, the country's civil aviation sector is expected to transport more than 2.32 million passengers on the same day, up over 5 percent compared with the previous day.
China sees peak return trips as National Day holiday winds down
Landmark buildings in eight Chinese cities have been lit up with the theme and logo of the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, welcoming in advance the arrival of the Year of the Horse.
China Media Group (CMG) on Wednesday unveiled the official theme and logo for its 2026 Spring Festival Gala, celebrating the start of the Year of the Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar, which begins on February 17, 2026.
Inspired by a poetic line from an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry, the theme of the 2026 Spring Festival Gala is "Galloping steed, Onward unstoppable", CMG announced.
The light shows were staged on landmark buildings in eight Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hengyang and Huzhou.
The Chinese lunar year for 2026 is the Year of the Horse, one of the most dynamic and spirited in the 12-animal Chinese zodiac cycle, representing strength, perseverance and unstoppable momentum.
The Spring Festival Gala hosted by CMG has been an essential part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations since 1983. The gala includes songs, dances, comic sketches, operas and folk arts.
The annual spectacle, known as the most-watched television program in the world, is broadcast on the eve of the Chinese New Year, when families come together to ring in the new lunar year.
This upcoming Spring Festival Eve falls on Feb 16, 2026.
Spring Festival Gala logo, theme light up on landscape buildings across China
