China kicks off Lunar New Year travel rush, expects record 9 billion trips

Travellers at the Hongqiao High-Speed Railway Station ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in Shanghai, China, on Jan 26, 2024. -Bloomberg

BEIJING: China on Friday (Jan 26) kicked off its busiest annual period of mass migration with a record 9 billion domestic trips expected to be made during a 40-day travel rush around the Lunar New Year holidays, state media predicted.

That would be nearly double the 4.7 billion trips made during the so-called Spring Festival travel rush in 2023 when ultra-strict Covid-19 restrictions were abolished.