Largest travel rush off to smooth start

Staff from Beijing West Railway Station provide services for passengers on Friday. The station has two special waiting rooms designated for those needing special assistance, such as the disabled, expectant moms and small children. [PHOTO/CHINA DAILY]

At the crack of dawn on Friday, Rakesh, an Indian passenger who provided only his first name, presented his passport and had his ticket checked by a station staffer. He was preparing to board the G6701 train, the first high-speed train during this year's Spring Festival travel rush at Beijing West Railway Station, and his destination was Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province.

"I know the Spring Festival and have celebrated it several times with my friends. But I had no idea about the Spring Festival travel rush until I saw such a great number of people today," he said, adding that transportation is convenient in China and it's easy for foreigners to purchase tickets and get onboard the sleek carriages.

Chunyun, or "Spring Festival travel rush" during the lunar Chinese New Year, is the world's largest annual movement of people.

Amid an expected surge in the number of train passengers during chunyun, China's railway departments have enhanced transportation capacity, optimized services and organized themed events to satisfy passengers' various needs and improve their travel experience.

China's rail network is expected to handle 480 million passenger trips during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush — which officially kicked off on Friday — a year-on-year surge of 37.9 percent, said China State Railway Group.

China Railway Beijing Group is projected to handle 39.13 million passenger trips during the period, a 14.1-percent increase compared to 2019, thus exceeding pre-pandemic levels. To tackle the expected surge of holidaymaking travelers, the capital plans to arrange 462 additional trains.

"Though ticket availability is competitive, I didn't encounter any difficulty buying tickets and succeeded in booking a lower berth and a middle berth," said Shen Dali, 58, who had taken his 92-year-old mother to visit Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, and was heading to their hometown in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Harbin is an extremely popular tourist destination this winter due in large part to its magnificent ice and snow sculptures.

Although both rounds of tickets were purchased as soon as pre-sales began, Shen only managed to grab two middle berths for Monday's trip to Harbin. He expressed his gratitude to the train attendants, who resolved the situation by allocating a lower berth to his mother.

Upon arriving at Beijing West Railway Station on Friday, several staffers and volunteers came to them, led them to a special waiting room and helped them with their luggage. Shen politely declined, saying they were in good health and preferred to wander around the station and have a gander at the flurry of activity.

Beijing West Railway Station has two special waiting rooms designated for those needing special assistance, such as the disabled, expectant moms and small children. There's a dedicated nursing room, a children's play area, charging devices and quite a few wheelchairs.

"Passengers can either make reservations via the ticket-buying 12306 app or come straight over for tailored services," said Zhao Yaxue, a worker at the station. "There has been an increase in the number of service requests recently, with the earliest today being for assistance in picking up a disabled man at the station at 5:59 am."

During the Spring Festival travel season, railway stations across the nation often organize different activities to create a more festive fiesta-like atmosphere.

The station has invited several calligraphers to write fu, a Chinese character meaning good luck, on red paper for passengers on the first day of the travel rush.

Zeng Liying, a teacher in Tianjin, was waiting in line for the handwritten calligraphy. She was headed to her hometown of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, with her husband for a family reunion.

Failing to purchase tickets for high-speed trains to Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, two friends of hers decided to travel with the couple to Guangzhou first, and then transfer to Nanning.

The four took a ride from Tianjin to Beijing early Friday morning and were happy to come across the calligraphy gifts.

"I will carefully keep it and bring the good luck back home," said Zeng's husband.

By Li Menghan and Luo Wangshu | China Daily

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