Full coverage: Chinese Qingming Festival

The three-day-long Qingming holiday begins on Saturday. It's a time when the Chinese honor their ancestors through tomb sweeping. It's also a time for other activities such as spring outings, kite-flying and the likes. Many have hit the road for the long weekend, with Lijiang, Chengdu, Yangzhou among the most popular domestic destinations.

Many of those going overseas are choosing Tokyo, Phuket Island and Seoul. So Saturday is essentially the start of another "travel peak". China's railway authorities expect more than 41 million train journeys to be made over the next four days. This is an increase of about 12 percent on the corresponding period last year, as more travellers have access to high-speed railways now, due to a network expansion. Railway authorities extended their operating times for online ticket purchases, due to increased demand.

Meanwhile, traffic is also building on the roads and in the air. The number of passengers departing Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to reach 270，000 on Saturday. Another post-holiday flight peak is expected on Wednesday.