US EditionCGTN: More than a Journey: How Spring Festival Travel Rush Reflects a Changing China
- On Feb 2, China's Spring Festival travel rush began ahead of the Feb 15–23 nine-day public holiday in 2026.
- State planning officials project a record 9.5 billion passenger trips, surpassing last year's 9.02 billion, but many Chinese consumers remain cautious and prefer to save amid economic uncertainty.
- Flight Master data shows domestic holiday flight bookings exceeded 4.13 million by mid-January, up about 21 percent year-on-year, while outbound demand concentrates heavily in Southeast Asia with Thailand a leading destination.
- Buyers face volatile fares that can even double, and 32-year-old traveller Liu reported sold-out flights from Guangzhou airport on Monday, complicating travel plans.
- Major travel platforms report bookings already surpassing last year's levels, while routes to Japan dropped over 40% after a late-year geopolitical spat between China and Japan.
33 Articles
33 Articles
CGTN: More than a journey: How Spring Festival travel rush reflects a changing China
The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush begins on February 2 and will run for 40 days, ending on March 13. Ahead of this annual migration, CGTN published a feature article exploring how the event has transcended its role as a transport phenomenon, becoming a unique lens through which to view China's social transformation. BEIJING, Feb. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Under the glow of floodlights at a maintenance base in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi…
China starts its countdown this Monday towards the lunar New Year, that of the Knight of Fire—which will officially begin on February 17—with the start of the chunyun, the travel period associated with those holidays and considered the largest annual population movement on the planet. Over the next 40 days millions of people are expected to travel back to their place of origin or, breaking with the traditional pattern, take advantage of the larg…
China’s mighty Lunar New Year migration roars back with record trips and surging bookings
GUANGZHOU, Feb 2 — China’s annual Spring Festival travel rush, a 40-day period commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration, kicked off today ahead of an extended Lunar New Year holiday.This year’s Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, falls on February 17 and will be accompanied by an extra-long nine-day public holiday in China, running from February 15 to 23.It’s hoped a longer holiday (…
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