, with travellers cramming onto trains and planes to head back to their hometowns and families preparing for traditional reunion dinner gatherings.Some 1 873 passenger trains were added on one day across a vast railway network, a record according to state media outlet Global Times.
Several provinces rushed to upgrade emergency response measures to remove snow that restricted traffic flow on hundreds of highways, stranding passengers in cars. Authorities worked to clear ice off power lines and train tracks, and de-ice planes and runways at airports.marked the first time during the Spring Festival travel rush, also known as Chunyun period, that daily passengers exceeded 13 million, according to Global Times.
The eight day-long holiday officially begins on Saturday but many travellers opt to begin their trips earlier. It also marks a year since China fully lifted COVID-19 curbs that had disrupted the holiday for the three years prior.