China has seen 260 million railway passenger trips so far in this year's summer travel rush, a increase of four percent year on year, according to figures from the China State Railway Group released on Friday.
The average number of daily passenger trips exceeded 14.4 million since the summer travel season began on July 1, 13.2 percent higher than the average of daily passenger trips during this year's Spring Festival travel rush.
Analysts said the launch of new rail routes and the improvement of railway services have driven the increase of the passenger flow.
Wu Guoying, an official of the China Railway Chengdu Group, said the Chongqing-Xiamen high-speed railway, newly inaugurated last month, has brought more tourists to Chongqing City.
"The opening of the new rail route has filled a gap in high-speed train transportation service in the southeastern parts of Chongqing. It has efficiently connected the rich tourism resources along the route and presented new summer tourism destinations for travelers," she said.
Extra Fuxing model bullet trains, which can reach speeds of 350 kilometers per hour, have been marshaled for the summer travel rush to expand rail transport capacity.
Convenient services of car transport by rail have also attracted tourists who favor self-driving tours to remote tourism destinations in Xinjiang, Xizang and many other parts of western China.
China sees surge in railway passenger trips in summer travel rush
Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Italy and Greece on Saturday to protest against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, with protesters in Rome, Milan and Athens condemning Washington's actions and calling for respect for Venezuelan sovereignty.
In Rome, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched toward the area near the U.S. Embassy, calling on Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Police blocked roads around the embassy to prevent protesters from approaching the building, but demonstrators continued to denounce U.S. actions.
"First of all, we oppose U.S. imperialist aggression. This kind of behavior is shameful. The U.S. is attacking a sovereign country, and as [U.S. President Donald] Trump himself has said, this is for oil interests," said protester Giovanni Barbera.
Saturday's rally marked the second large-scale protest in Rome this month against U.S. military operations in Venezuela, following an earlier one on on Jan 3.
Participants included members of multiple political parties, labor unions and social organizations. The protesters held banners reading "Stop imperialist interference" and "Free Maduro," urging the international community to respect Venezuela's sovereignty and the will of its people, and condemning the U.S. for violating international law.
"We are protesting the way the U.S. handles international politics. Since the events of January 3, we have seen violations of international law, and we are very concerned about how the global situation is developing," said protester Stefano De Angelis.
Organizers said solidarity rallies in support of Venezuela were held in 30 Italian cities on the same day.
Meanwhile, similar protests were also staged in Greece. About 200 people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, voicing support for Venezuela and opposition to U.S. military actions.
"We oppose U.S. imperialism and its attack on Venezuela. At the same time, the U.S. is also threatening Cuba, Mexico and Greenland. We must stand up against this behavior," said Greek protester Argiro Sirmakezi.
Protesters rally in Italy, Greece against U.S. military operation in Venezuela
