Cross-regional journeys for chunyun surpass 1b within first week, expected to bolster demand

A father and son wave to the camera on train K4159 before it departs from Beijing West Railway Station for Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, on January 14, 2025. China's annual Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, officially started on the same day and will last until February 22. (Chen Tao/GT)

Cumulative cross-regional passenger trips exceeded 1 billion as of Sunday since the beginning of chunyun or the Spring Festival travel rush on January 14, with road trips accounting for nearly 80 percent of the total, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Monday, citing official data.

A total of 12.89 million trips were made through the country's rail system on Sunday with 13.45 million trips expected to be made on Monday. Some 214 million train tickets for chunyun were sold through the official railway ticket-booking app 12306 as of 9 am on Monday, China Railway said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The chunyun for 2025, the world's largest annual migration, is expected to reach an unprecedented 9 billion trips, according to Chinese transport authorities.

"As the travel distance for chunyun is usually medium- to long-range, it will play a vital role in bolstering consumption related to transportation," Jiang Yiyi, a vice dean of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Monday.

In addition to just going home, more travelers have been embarking on journeys during the travel rush through the country's advanced infrastructure such as high-speed railways, especially amid the nation's consumption upgrade, Song Ding, a research fellow at the China Development Institute, told the Global Times on Monday.

As of Saturday, more than 250,000 passenger trips had been made through the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway, with a daily average of 50,000 trips since the start of chunyun, CMG reported separately. The railway line is expected to transport more than 4.15 million passengers during the period.

"Tourists traveling to destinations such as scenic spots and the countryside amid the travel rush will further spur consumption through various modes such as wellness consumption, generating more income for involved industries," Song said.

When it comes to new consumption highlights for the upcoming holidays, Jiang pointed to tourists seeking experiences different from their daily lives, such as tourists from southern China going to appreciate the snow in the north or consumers from northern China hoping to escape from the cold weather.

Taking the popular snow economy as an example, Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has become a top destination for travelers during the Spring Festival holiday.

Among tourists traveling to Northeast China, more than 75 percent are from South China, according to a trend report targeting tourism and consumption for the Spring Festival jointly issued by Chinese online travel platform Tuniu and the China Association of Travel Services, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Moreover, Jiang noted that the already vibrant cultural tourism sector will continue to gain momentum from enriched and diverse trends from going to cinemas and watching performances to visiting museums and libraries, adding that the demand for activities that can offer more immersive experiences is also growing.

As of press time, the pre-sales box office for the 2025 Spring Festival movies had topped 243 million yuan ($33.22 million), according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan.

According to data from Fliggy, the search volume for "intangible cultural heritage travel" on the platform in early January saw a staggering 133 percent rise from the same period in December, per media reports.

Besides the bustling travel, growing consumption amid the holidays is also driving up the number of packages delivered every day since chunyun started. In the first three days of the travel rush, the average daily express delivery volume in China exceeded 670 million pieces, up 29 percent year-on-year, according to a report seen on the official website of the State Post Bureau on January 17.

Chinese authorities have been implementing measures to bolster domestic consumption, covering a wide range of aspects from consumer goods and home appliances, to electronic products to culture and tourism.

A subsidy plan for purchasing new mobile phones and other digital products took effect nationwide on Monday.

Meanwhile, China's State Council, the country's cabinet, on January 13 rolled out a total of 18 measures to cultivate new growth areas across cultural and tourism consumption, covering six aspects including launching cultural and tourism vouchers, introducing more cultural and tourism products suitable for seniors, and optimizing inbound tourism policies.