Spring Festival travel rush reflects a changing China

The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush (chunyun) runs Feb 2–Mar 13 and officials estimate about 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips; the feature highlights expanded infrastructure and passenger services such as more charging points, quiet carriages, senior services and pet transport options.

The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun, began on February 2 and runs for 40 days through March 13. Officials estimate roughly 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips during the period, helped by a nine-day holiday. Transport authorities have increased infrastructure and services, and the feature explores how those changes reflect broader social shifts. The piece highlights both logistical scale and passenger-focused measures. Key details: - Dates and scale: Feb 2–Mar 13, with officials estimating about 9.5 billion inter-regional trips over 40 days. - Modes of travel: self-driving is projected to account for roughly 80% of trips; rail and civil aviation are expected to handle about 540 million and 95 million passengers respectively. - Infrastructure: the highway charging network has been expanded to 71,500 charging points and China's high-speed rail network now exceeds 50,000 kilometers. - Safety and coordination: more than 20 government departments are involved, and meteorological and emergency teams have pre-positioned de-icing equipment, rescue units, drones and helicopters for rapid response. - Passenger services: "quiet carriages" are on over 8,000 high-speed trains; "Silver Hair" services offer priority and assistance for seniors; Pet Rail services in Henan expanded from one station to four. Summary: The article presents chunyun as both a logistical operation and a window into social and service changes in China, noting expanded charging infrastructure, rail capacity and a range of passenger-focused services. The travel rush continues through March 13, and Chinese New Year falls on February 17.