China's transport networks continued to face heavy demand on Saturday, the second day of the ongoing holiday of Duanwu Festival with millions of passenger trips recorded nationwide.
The travel rush period runs from Thursday to Monday, with Saturday expected to be the peak day at roughly 19 million trips, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd, the national railway operator.
Railways are expected to handle 12.24 million passenger trips, with 598 extra trains scheduled to meet the demand.
The Beijing Railway Bureau is projected to carry out more than 1.02 million passenger trips with 73 added trains, while the Jinan Railway Bureau is forecast to handle 640,000 passenger trips and add 76 trains. Shanghai's railway operator anticipates 2.49 million passenger trips with 93 additional trains.
In provinces of Hubei and Shandong, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, railway stations hosted cultural and traditional activities related to the festival, such as folk custom sessions and food tastings, allowing travelers to experience the festive atmosphere on board.
Highways also faces pressure on Saturday, with traffic volume across the national expressway network forecast to reach 39.8 million vehicle trips, up 2 percent year on year.
Waterways are projected to see 1.1 million passenger trips on Saturday, marking a 7.6-percent increase from the previous year. Traffic along the Yangtze trunk line and the Putuo Mountain (in Zhejiang Province) route is forecast to rise by more than 10 percent.
The Duanwu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, fell on Friday this year. The three-day holiday began on the same day.
China's transport networks under strain on Day Two of Duanwu Festival holiday
Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Babar Baloch warned that millions of internally displaced persons remain unable to return home due to stalled peace efforts, urging stronger global support as the crisis threatens to affect everyone.
At the end of 2025, 68.7 million people remained internally displaced due to conflict and violence, a 7 percent decrease from the end of 2024, according to the latest Global Trends report published this month.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Baloch referred to two countries in severe situations -- Sudan, which remains the largest internal displacement globally with 9.1 million people still displaced at the end of 2025, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which faces severe humanitarian crisis amid both violence and the Ebola outbreak.
Baloch said many displaced people remain near their homes hoping for a quick return, but warned that ongoing conflict and stalled peace efforts often dash those expectations and leave lives in danger.
"The problem is, as this report showed us, that once you become displaced, then it's not easy for people to go back to their places of origin because there are no efforts to bring back peace, or the efforts which continue, they don't bring results. And also if people stay closer to homes, and if there's a conflict, and if there are reasons that they may not become safe, so, also, their lives are in danger," he said.
With few solutions in sight, Baloch warned that the plight of internally displaced persons must become a global concern, as new conflicts continue to erupt and leave millions at risk.
"The trends are consistent in a way that there are not many solutions to be found for these displaced population. And then we see more and new theaters of war and conflict, or opening up. In terms of people when they become displaced, we are telling the world that you need to take care. It should be of everyone's concern because it affects all of us, all around the world alike," he said.
UNHCR warns global displacement crisis puts lives at risk
