In this Jan 21, 2019 photo, passengers board a train at Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. (YANG CHENGUANG / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's Spring Festival travel rush has started on Monday, wherein families reunite during the country's most important holiday. 

The travel rush began 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 5 this year.

READ MORE: China gears up for Spring Festival travel rush

In the following 40 days, from Jan 21 to March 1, nearly 3 billion trips are to be made via trains and buses as people rush to see their family or travel around the country.

In this Jan 21, 2019 photo, passengers board a train at Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. (YANG CHENGUANG / XINHUA)

China launched 10 new railways at the end of 2018, adding the total length of the country's high-speed railways to 29,000 km.

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The country's aviation authority plans to schedule 532,000 flights during the travel rush, an increase of 10 percent year on year.