China sees surge in traveler trips during Qingming Festival holiday

China is experiencing a significant travel boom during the ongoing three-day Qingming Festival holiday, with railways, highways, and airports operating at peak capacity to accommodate surging passenger flows.

The Qingming Festival on April 4 this year, also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival observed to honor ancestors by visiting their graves to clean the tombstones, offer sacrifices, and pay respects.

According to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway), railway passenger trips in China hit 20.093 million on Friday, the first day of the holiday, marking the highest single-day figure for passenger train trips since the beginning of the year.

The China Railway also estimated that the country is expected to handle 13.55 million passenger trips on Saturday, with 622 additional trains added to meet the surging demand for short-distance travel for family visits, ancestral worship, and spring outings.

Passengers are expected to make over 119,000 trips between Guangdong and Hong Kong via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway on the same day, an increase of 11,000 passenger trips over the same period last year. Among them, passengers traveling from the mainland to Hong Kong account for nearly 60 percent.

To address overnight demand, China Railway Jinan Group and China Railway Xi'an Group have introduced nighttime high-speed rail services on select routes.

Road travel has also surged, with national expressways expected to handle approximately 60 million vehicle trips. Private cars dominate the roads, accounting for about 53 million trips, over 99 percent of all passenger vehicle traffic. Highways are expected to witness a significant rise in demand for short-distance travel within urban areas and their surrounding regions.

Air travel remains brisk, with airlines set to operate 15,465 flights on Saturday, transporting an estimated 1.68 million passengers.

China sees surge in traveler trips during Qingming Festival holiday

China sees surge in traveler trips during Qingming Festival holiday

China sees surge in traveler trips during Qingming Festival holiday

China sees surge in travelers during Qingming Festival holiday

Xi'an, the capital city of what is now northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has played a pivotal role in facilitating China's exchanges with the rest of the world through the ancient Silk Road.

The city, which was called Chang'an in ancient China, served as the starting point of the Silk Road. Chang'an was the capital city of several ancient Chinese dynasties, including the Western Han and the Tang, from 202 BC to AD 907.

Stepping out of the Xi'an Railway Station, one will encounter the colossal ruins of the Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace. This gate was the national gateway of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Over 1,300 years ago, envoys from all nations from every corner of the world would pass through this very gate to pay homage to what was then the world's most powerful empire.

In Istanbul, the Topkapi Palace Museum, built in 1478, was the heart of the Ottoman Empire.

As camel bells echoed across deserts from Chang'an and merchant ships sailed oceans from east China's Quanzhou City, treasures of civilization from ancient China ultimately settled within this museum.

Its collections include vast numbers of Chinese paintings, calligraphy, and precious gold and silver artifacts, among them 12,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain.

At the Topkapi Palace Museum, these porcelain wares now stand on display for the world, telling a history of civilizational exchange spanning Eurasia.

Northwest China's Xi'an plays pivotal role in boosting ancient exchanges with outside world