Chinese holiday makers showed a strong desire to return home for family reunions and outing during the official nine-day 2026 Spring Festival holiday running until Monday, with travel volume reaching record highs, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The 2026 Spring Festival marking the start of a Chinese New Year, which is a Year of the Horse in the 12-animal Chinese zodiac, fell on Feb 17. The official holiday lasted nine days from Feb 15 to 23, with the 40-day travel rush lasting through March 13.
The Spring Festival travel rush, also known as "Chunyun," is said to be the world's largest annual human migration, as millions embark on journeys across the nation to reunite with loved ones for celebrations to mark the arrival of the Chinese New Year.
Official data showed that during the holiday, the total cross-regional passenger trips exceeded 2.8 billion, with an average of 311 million trips per day, an increase of 8.2 percent year on year, setting a new record for travel volume.
"From the third to the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, or Thursday to Monday, the passenger flow exceeded historical peaks for five consecutive days. On the sixth day, cross-regional population movement reached 380 million trips. Daily peak figures repeatedly hit record highs," said Gao Bo, deputy director of the Transport Services Department of the Ministry of Transport.
Traffic volumes across all modes of transport saw significant increases during the holiday season.
The average daily passenger volume of railways, highways and waterways all increased by more than 10 percent year on year, while civil aviation saw a 7.3 percent year-on-year increase.
During the holiday, the proportion of self-driving trips on highways continued to rise, with an average of nearly 270 million self-driving trips per day, an increase of 8.3 percent year on year, accounting for 86 percent of total trips.
New energy vehicle (NEV) travel was particularly popular.
An average of 11.52 million NEVs passed through highways daily during the holiday, an increase of 34 percent year on year, with about 1,900 mobile charging facilities added on average each day.
Transportation consumption scenarios became more diversified during the holiday. Highway charging and small-minibus rental emerged as new growth points.
More than 910,000 vehicles were charged daily at highway service areas across the country. An average of about 650,000 vehicles were rented per day, a 15 percent increase year on year.
"Returning home for family reunions and suburban tours brought more vitality to rural areas, further promoting the expansion of commodity and service consumption from central cities to other urban and rural areas. The robust travel over the Spring Festival holiday effectively boosted consumption in fields such as cultural tourism, accommodation, catering, retail and energy supply, injecting strong momentum for a good start to the year's economy," Gao said.
Spring Festival travel surges to new high in China: transport ministry
