Published: 10:20, February 16, 2026 | Updated: 10:35, February 16, 2026
China eyes 285m inter-regional trips on 1st day of Spring Festival holiday
By Xinhua
This drone photo shows vehicles driving on an expressway in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu province on Feb 15, 2026, the first day of this year's nine-day Spring Festival holiday. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – Over 285 million inter-regional passenger trips are predicted across China on Sunday, the first day of this year's nine-day Spring Festival holiday.

The figure represents a 10.5 percent increase from the same period last year, the Ministry of Transport said on Sunday.

Trips by road are expected to increase 10.8 percent year-on-year to total 268.75 million on Sunday, while journeys by rail and air are predicted to rise 4.3 percent and 6.4 percent.

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Waterway passenger trips on Sunday are expected to surge 28.1 percent year-on-year.

In this Feb 15, 2026, photo, passengers are pictured at the Jiaxing South Railway Station in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Passengers wait for trains at the Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, Feb 15, 2026. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

The Spring Festival, which is also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year. Though the official holiday lasts for nine days, this year's travel rush began on Feb 2 and will continue until March 13.