China Spring Festival: Chunyun, the biggest human migration in the world

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This spring festival travel rush we've been talking about is called Chunyun in Chinese. It's the world's biggest human migration and it's quite the sight. CGTN's Zhao Yunfei breaks down the numbers to give us a sense of just how big this annual movement really is.

The massive human migration, people in China call it Chunyun, and it's the biggest of its kind around the globe.

Checking passengers' tickets with their IDs. For Yang Bin, the job leaves little room for error. More than 2,000 tickets go through his hands every day.

YANG BIN TIANJIN WEST RAILWAY STATION "It's the time of year, we'll see a big crowd of passengers at the station. Our responsibility as station staff is to ensure the safety of each traveller."

ZHAO YUNFEI TIANJIN "Getting a seat is a competitive affair. Some people wait in line for days. And even online, tickets sell fast."

These millions of people travel a combined 1.2 billion kilometers on trains, cars and buses, and planes during this migration season. That's the distance from here to Saturn.

1.2 billion kilometers The biggest chunks of outbound trips come from Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing. And the major destinations are the provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Henan. When the Spring Festival celebration is over, the flow is reversed.

ZHAO YUNFEI TIANJIN "Fast developing infrastructure has made this homeward march much quicker for many. The total length of China's high-speed railway is 25 thousand kilometers. That's more than 60 percent of the global total. China's first self-developed bullet train "Fuxing" boasts a consistent speed of 350 kilometers per hour."

Every year, nearly 400 million trips are accomplished by train during the new year migration season. That means more than 100 passengers hop onto trains every second. And that lasts for 40 days, non-stop. Speed requires precision. For station staff like Yang Bin, it is a race against time to get everyone on board.

YANG BIN TIANJIN WEST RAILWAY STATION "I'm doing an ordinary job, but not an easy one. We treat every passenger as a member of our family."

Yang Bin witnesses stories of individuals eager for reunions with loved ones. He is one of those who have to be busy, while others go on holiday to be happy.