THE country is set to experience an unprecedented surge in travel demand during the seven-day National Day holiday, from Oct 1 to 7, with an expected 2.13 billion cross-regional trips across the country – averaging more than 300 million trips per day, said the Transport Ministry.
The travel volume was expected to peak on Oct 1, with about 340 million trips recorded on the first day of the holiday, nearly twice the normal daily level.
China’s railway network is handling the heaviest passenger flow in its history.
About 284 million passenger trips are expected during the 16-day railway holiday travel period from Sept 23 to Oct 8, with an average of about 13,000 passenger trains planned per day, according to national railway operator China State Railway Group.
To accommodate the surge, railway operators have added about 700 overnight high-speed rail services on trunk lines including the Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Harbin routes.
Major hubs such as Wuhan in Hubei province and Nanchang in Jiangxi province have launched round-the-clock operations.
Additionally, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, from Sept 25 to Oct 7, the country’s civil aviation sector is expected to transport 31.19 million passengers, averaging 2.4 million per day, an increase of 3.6%.
The single-day peak is expected to exceed 2.6 million passenger trips, surpassing the level recorded in the same period in 2025.
In the international market, holiday ticket bookings rose 22.5% year on year.
Neighbouring countries remain popular tourist destinations, with flight volumes to Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos increasing by 20%.
Long-haul international routes to Britain, Germany and Spain also saw a 15% increase, it said.
Road travel, especially self-driving, is expected to account for more than 90% of all trips during the holiday, said Vice-Minister of Transport Li Yang.
Highway traffic on the first day of the holiday was expected to reach 71 million vehicle trips, nearly 1.9 times the daily average in August of about 37 million, said Li.
To prevent large-scale congestion at popular scenic spots and key road sections, the ministry has taken a series of measures, such as an AI-powered road network assessment tool using historical and forecast data to identify sections of road that may see serious congestion, Li said. — China Daily/ANN
