Chart of the Day: China's 2025 Spring Festival travel rush sees record 9 billion trips

The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, or Chunyun, officially concluded on Saturday, with transportation authorities reporting an unprecedented 9.025 billion cross-regional trips over the 40-day period, setting a new record in China's holiday travel history.

According to data from the Chinese Transport Ministry, from January 14 to February 22, railway passengers reached 513.6 million, while highway travel saw 8.39 billion movements. Waterway passenger numbers stood at 31.15 million, and air travel accounted for 90.19 million trips.

Several factors contributed to the surge, including an earlier Lunar New Year's Eve and an extended holiday period. Pre-holiday travel peaked earlier than in previous years, while tourism and self-driving trips drove a significant increase in travel intensity during the break. Post-holiday return journeys saw two major peaks, with February 3 – the sixth day of the Lunar New Year – reaching a daily high of 339 million trips and another surge on February 13, exceeding 215 million trips.

The record-breaking figures reflect China's growing travel demand and evolving transportation landscape during its most significant annual migration period.