China's passenger transportation system is facing a peak in return traffic flow on Monday, the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, with measures taken to ensure the passengers' smooth travel.
The Spring Festival, marking the start of the Chinese New Year, fell on Feb. 17 this year. The official holiday lasts nine days from Feb. 15 to 23, with the travel rush period lasting through March 13 as residents head home for family reunions and leisure and return for work.
The country's railway system is expected to handle 18.50 million passenger trips, with 2,297 additional passenger trains scheduled for Sunday. This is the peak of railway travel during the holiday period.
In response, railway stations in Shanghai, south China's Guangzhou, central China's Wuhan, and other cities have provided boosted passenger services and increased security personnel and volunteers, as well as strengthened guidance for nighttime trains. The stations also increased the frequency of nighttime buses and taxis to facilitate quick transfers for passengers.
Affected by cold air, many parts of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were hit by heavy rain, snow, and strong winds. The Harbin Railway Bureau added 10 high-speed trains on the Harbin-Mudanjiang and Harbin-Suifenhe routes on Monday, and put into use a new type of de-icing and snow removal device to improve the efficiency of high-speed train maintenance.
"By using constant temperature and pressure water outlets, combined with a fan-shaped nozzle, the ice-melting and snow-removal process for a single high-speed train can now be completed in just three hours, compared to six in the past. This improves efficiency while ensuring safe travel," said Zhang Shuo, a maintenance crew member at the Harbin passenger transport section under China Railway Harbin Group.
On the nation's highways, traffic volume on expressways decreased on Monday, yet remained at a high level. It is estimated that over 66 million vehicle trips will be registered nationwide. Due to snowfall and icy roads, several sections of major highways in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Shaanxi provinces have implemented proactive closure and control measures.
In civil aviation, airports in multiple cities, including Urumqi, Harbin and Changchun, are facing extra challenges from strong winds, snow and convective weather.
Meanwhile, China's waterways are expected to handle 1.6 million passenger trips on Monday. To cope with the high passenger volume and limited berth space, operating companies have made adjustments to some of their speedboat services. Maritime authorities are ensuring passenger safety through on-site patrol boat deployments and dynamic passenger flow analysis.
China's traffic system sees return travel peak on last day of Spring Festival holiday
China's traffic system sees return travel peak on last day of Spring Festival holiday
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
