Guangzhou (JLC), February 23, 2024 – The Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) was severely affected by bad weather after the Lunar New Year public holiday, with daily trips sinking to the lowest level so far for the 40-day period on February 22, according to JLC’s calculations based on data from the Ministry of Transport.
A total of approximately 6.29 billion passenger trips were completed between January 26 and February 22 by road, railway, air and waterway across the country, JLC’s calculations showed.
The figure still represented a rise of about 12.25% from the corresponding period in 2023, and an increase of 10.78% from the pre-pandemic levels (the corresponding period in 2019), the calculations showed.
This year’s travel rush will be the busiest China has ever seen, the Ministry of Transport predicted, with 9 billion passenger trips expected in the 40-day Chunyun, which began on January 26.
Transportation hit hard by cold snap
A cold snap hit large swaths of China from February 17 to February 22, state-backed media China News Service reported, bringing heavy snows, freezing rains, sleets and fogs.
The strong cold wave swept across the central and eastern regions, bringing drastic temperature drops of up to about 20 degrees Celsius, according to the China Meteorological Center. There were heavy snows in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong, while freezing rains hit Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou.
It had a significant impact on road, railway, aviation, and water transportation. Local authorities initiated various measures and emergency responses to maintain the uninterrupted operation of transportation during the travel rush, the state-run media said.
Passenger trips have dropped considerately since February 18, the first day after the 8-day Lunar New Year break, and hit a new low on February 22, data from the Ministry of Transport showed.
Temperatures will remain low for most regions in China in the coming week, and the icy, rainy and snowy weather will continue in the southern regions on February 23-25, the Ministry of Transport said, posing challenges to the travel rush.
