China is expected to record more than 243 million cross-regional passenger trips on Friday, the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, up 6.4 percent from the previous day, with notable increases in road, rail, civil aviation and waterway traffic, according to official data.
Railways were expected to carry 22.34 million passengers on the first day of the holiday, with 1,218 additional trains scheduled for popular routes. Nighttime high-speed rail services continued on popular routes such as Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Guangzhou and Beijing-Harbin. Some stations adjusted operating hours to ensure comfortable waiting and smooth transfers.
Road travel was dominated by short-distance self-driving trips. The Ministry of Transport used an intelligent road network analysis system, combined with historical data, to identify sections prone to congestion and implement targeted measures to avoid large-scale traffic jams.
In north China's Hebei Province, traffic volume on the Zhuozhou section of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway rose significantly, with more than 360 vehicles passing through a five-minute section. The command center relied on a smart traffic control platform for 24-hour dynamic monitoring to ensure smooth traffic flow.
"We have upgraded 220 high-definition surveillance cameras in our jurisdiction, achieving full video coverage on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao and Capital Ring expressways, greatly improving the efficiency of handling traffic incidents," said Liu Ming, head of the Zhuozhou brigade of the Hebei Expressway Traffic Police.
Waterways were projected to handle 750,000 passengers on the first day, up 15.4 percent from the previous day. Civil aviation was expected to transport 2.06 million passengers, with busy routes among the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Chengdu-Chongqing city clusters.
China expects over 243 million cross-regional trips on 1st day of Mid-Autumn holiday
The ongoing 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai has introduced a drone event combining engineering, programming and piloting, underscoring demand for multidisciplinary technicians as unmanned aircraft find wider commercial use.
The four-day Unmanned Aerial Systems contest began Wednesday at Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Center, with results due at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
All 11 competitors spent the opening day assembling and calibrating their drones. China's entrant Zeng Chen, an instructor at the Hangzhou Technician Institute in east China's Zhejiang Province, was the first to complete the assembly and begin a test flight, according to the event's competition manager.
Across six modules, competitors must shift among three roles: engineer, programmer and pilot. They assemble and repair drones, debug software and write flight plans, perform complex maneuvers and respond to emergencies.
That mix mirrors the real-world job of an unmanned aerial systems technician, a role that spans aerodynamics, flight-control systems, communications, robotics and software.
"The obstacle-avoidance module requires competitors to process point-cloud data, which is then used to generate a three-dimensional indoor map. The task is a bit like navigating a maze. The drones may also have to carry sandbags or other payloads for remote delivery, making that part extremely challenging," said Gu Junjie, a coach for the Unmanned Aerial Systems competition.
Judges assess competitors on their adherence to operating procedures, work quality, completion time and ability to diagnose and resolve faults.
Zeng's performance over the first three days drew praise from Alan Ball, unmanned aerial systems skill competition manager.
"Chinese competitor -- he has done very well in the competition so far. Yes, in the overseas market, the drones are used in multiple different industries, from security to agriculture to safety to surveys, mapping. As a career as a drone technician, I think, globally, the future of drones is very bright," Ball said.
Drone event at WorldSkills spotlights demand for multidisciplinary talent
