Guangdong braces for a record 1.2 billion passenger trips during Lunar New Year

Guangdong’s cross-regional passenger trips during this year’s 40-day Spring Festival travel rush are projected to hit a record 1.159 billion trips, up 4.24% from 2025, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation announced last weel.

As cited by Chinese state media, officials believe that this year’s rush promises to be the “busiest Spring Festival travel rush in history,” driven by surging demand for outbound and short-distance domestic travel.

This year’s Spring Festival has also been dubbed the “longest Spring Festival in history.”

The Spring Festival period, also known as chunyun, runs from Feb. 2 to March 13 and coincides with a nine-day Lunar New Year holiday. During this period, highway, rail, and air traffic are set to reach new peaks. Cross-river and cross-sea channels are also expected to see sustained high volumes.

Guangdong’s transportation department stated, “The proportion of high-speed rail capacity deployed in Guangdong Province has increased from 87.3% last year to 89.4% this year, significantly increasing outbound travel capacity before the holiday.”

Civil aviation is also expected to ramp up across Guangdong. The province plans 145,100 takeoffs and landings, a 3.7% year-on-year rise.

Nationwide, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) forecasts a record 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips during the 2026 Spring Festival.

Self-driving trips will dominate, accounting for about 80% of total travel, NDRC Deputy Head Li Chunlin said at a Beijing press conference.

Railway passenger volumes are projected to reach 540 million, and civil aviation 95 million, with both the overall scale and peak daily traffic expected to surpass historical levels, Li added.