Beijing Preps for Spring Festival Migration

Beijing is getting ready for the world’s biggest migration again. Yup, it's nearly Spring Festival.

Xinhua has estimated that 2.8 billion (yes, billion!) trips will take place during the 40-day long Spring Festival season known as chunyun, during which hundreds of millions of Chinese people will travel home to reunite with their family members. This is an increase of 3.4 percent on last year’s Spring Festival rush.

Several new high-speed railways and nearly 2,000 trains will be put to use to cater to the demand, making a total of 300 million trips, up 10 percent from last year. However, allowing train tickets to go on sale 60 days before departure date compared to the usual 20 days should have improved ease of travel.

Beijing Capital Aiport alone expects to see close to 10 million passengers during the same period.

The Spring Festival peak started on February 4 and is estimated to end March 15. Maybe it’s not too late to avoid the mayhem and book that flight to Bangkok? Or if you’re staying in town anyway, why not visit a traditional temple fair and make the most of your Spring Festival staycation.

How are you preparing for Spring Festival?

Photo: imgkid.com