Train tickets for the first day of China's Dragon Boat Festival holiday are available from Saturday onward. Train ticket sales during the upcoming holiday are also expected to be brisk like in the May Day holiday.

This year, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 14, but the holiday starts two days in advance on June 12.

With the summer breeze and azure skies, everyone is tempted to step out.

According to the current rule, the maximum pre-sale period of railway tickets is 15 days. Passengers can purchase train tickets for the first day of this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday (June 12) on May 29 on the official platforms of the Railway Customer Service Center of China. The return tickets for the last day of the holiday (June 14) can be purchased on May 31.

According to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 230 million domestic tourists traveled during the May Day holiday, an increase of 119.7 percent year on year and a recovery of 103.2 percent compared with the same period before the pandemic.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday is sure to become the second peak period of passenger movement after the May Day holiday.

Taking the Yangtze River Delta region as an example, it is estimated by the railway authorities that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, more than 12.8 million passengers will be journeying by trains, with a daily average of more than 2.5 million travelers, exceeding the level in the same period of 2019.

The number of passengers is expected to hit a record high.

The authorities have warned people to follow social distancing and always don a face mask as part of the anti-epidemic preventive measures.