BEIJING — China was Tuesday bracing for a massive travel rush as millions of people across the country started making their way home after spending the new year holiday with their families.
The Chinese have been celebrating Spring Festival, an important holiday marking the beginning of the Lunar New Year, during which families across the country reunite, sometimes for the first time in months.
The railways ministry said 3.5 million people had travelled by train on Monday, up 54 percent from the day before, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
People start to travel back home on the third day of the Lunar New Year, which falls Tuesday, and the ministry said it had asked local railways to brace for a post-holiday push and add more services if necessary.
A total of around 210 million passengers are expected to take trains during the new year travel period, which ends on March 10. Nearly 30 million more will travel by air.
