Spring festival travel peak begins

Saturday marks the beginning of the spring festival travel peak. The transportation system is expected to handle a mind-numbing 2-and-a-half billion journeys in the next 40 days.

That's six million trips a day. Shen Le looks at how transport departments are coping with the surge.

Dubbed the biggest human migration in the world, this year's spring festival travel peak is expected to see a record-setting number of people taking trains, buses and airplanes.

Most travellers at railway stations are college students. They are on their winter vacation and want to head home earlier to avoid the busiest days.

Passengers wait to board a train at the West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2010. China's railways are expected to transport 210 million passengers during the 40-day travel peak starting from Jan. 30, as people return home for family reunion in the traditional Spring Festival beginning from Feb. 14 this year and then go back to workplaces. (Xinhua/Gong Lei)