Train tickets for 2026 Spring Festival travel rush go on sale, with 539 mln trips expected

Train tickets for the first day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush went on sale on Monday, China's railway operator said.

This year's travel rush period, known as Chunyun, will run from Feb. 2 to March 13, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

The national railway network is expected to handle 539 million passenger trips during the 40-day period this year, representing a 5 percent increase from the 2025 Chunyun, the company said.

Each year during the Spring Festival travel rush, millions of people who work, study, or live away from their hometowns return home to reunite with their families for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.

This year's Spring Festival will fall on Feb. 17. To better accommodate the surge in travel demand, railway operators have rolled out a range of service upgrades, including a limited-time free refund policy for mistakenly purchased tickets, expanded "quiet carriage" services, and discounted tickets for students.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 49 pips to 6.8929 against the U.S. dollar Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.