On February 22, 2025, the Spring Festival travel rush came to an end. This is the first Spring Festival travel rush after the successful application for World Heritage status, and also the longest Spring Festival holiday in history. Within 40 days, over 9 billion people have interwoven and flowed on over 9.6 million square kilometers of land. Among them, the number of passengers sent by railways and civil aviation reached 510 million and 90.2 million respectively, and the number of self driving trips reached 7.17 billion, both setting a new historical high. In recent days, there have been crowds of people and traffic flowing through the north and south of the Yangtze River, as well as inside and outside the mountains. The increasingly perfect transportation network, diverse and abundant transportation vehicles, accelerated intelligent applications, and continuously optimized service processes enable more people to enjoy a safe, convenient, and warm Spring Festival travel rush. In the Spring Festival travel rush of the new era, there is a hope for happiness towards a better life, which also reflects the full vitality of China's mobility. Transportation capacity and infrastructure are both increasing - "a thousand miles a day" reflects reality and steps back home. How long does it take to return home after a thousand miles? Wu Zilin, who has been working hard in Guangdong for more than 20 years, was once a member of the motorcycle army. During the Spring Festival travel rush a few years ago, he almost always rode his motorcycle back home. Carrying your loved ones and children, carrying big and small bags, we set off from Zhongshan early in the morning and rode for 12 hours. I dare not ride fast on the road, and when it rains, I get soaked all over. "Years have passed, but the road back home is still the same, but the time scale is different. In the past two years, the family has purchased a small car and the motorcycle has officially retired. Less than 6 hours to get home, safe and comfortable! "Over 10 years ago, a massive army of motorcycles set off from the Pearl River Delta region and rode back home along national highways to Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places, which was a unique scene in the Spring Festival migration wave. Nowadays, more and more people are driving their own Mercedes Benz on their way back to their hometowns, with traffic flowing back and forth like a shuttle, drawing a unique "Spring Festival travel rush curve" on the land of China. During this year's Spring Festival, self driving accounted for nearly 80% of all trips, with a total traffic volume of 436 million vehicles on highways nationwide. Upon careful observation, there are still many "new faces" during this year's Spring Festival travel rush: 16 domestically produced large aircraft C919 have entered the Spring Festival travel rush, with trajectories covering the east, west, north, south, and central regions; The newly upgraded CR400BF-S new Fuxing intelligent high-speed train is refreshing in both appearance and interior; The domestically produced large-scale cruise ship "Aida Magic City" has launched a New Year themed voyage, carrying nearly 5000 people to spend the Chinese New Year at sea... Various modes of transportation together form the strongest capacity, expanding space and "folding" time - starting from midnight on January 14th, the national railway will implement the Spring Festival travel rush train schedule, with over 14000 trains running day and night every day; During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the daily average number of civil aviation flights in China reached 18500, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, allowing more passengers to fly to their destinations quickly; The daily average number of new energy vehicles on highways nationwide has exceeded 6.5 million, an increase of over 60% compared to the same period last year. The infrastructure of a major country has paved the way for smooth transportation, making the convenient Spring Festival travel rush possible. In the service areas of highways and expressways, 35000 charging piles and over 40000 charging parking spaces are available, providing escort for new energy vehicle owners' self driving travel. Looking at the railway, a batch of new lines such as Hu Su Lake and Ji Da Yuan have been added, and the new lines and stations have enriched the "Spring Festival travel map" and made population mobility more convenient. Looking at civil aviation, major airlines have optimized their route networks, strengthened capacity supply, and helped achieve new highs in passenger transport volume through encrypted flights and switching to larger aircraft models. After 70 years of the Spring Festival travel rush, with equipment updates, new routes, and a refreshed air network, China's transportation landscape has taken on a new look. The increasingly perfect transportation network has brought homes closer in time and space, demonstrating the comprehensive strength of a great country. Technology and Service Escort - Making Travel Experience Better During the Spring Festival travel rush, how fast is the transfer between air and rail? You can get on the intercity train without leaving the station and arrive at the airport terminal in fifteen minutes After the Spring Festival, Wang Yu, a resident of Anyang, Henan Province, decided to take his family on a trip to Finland with Juneyao Airlines. After taking the high-speed rail from Anyang to Zhengzhou East Station, he saved one hour by transferring to the air rail. This year, Zhengzhou Airport has joined hands with railway departments and airlines to strengthen the connection between air and rail, optimize service processes, and ensure seamless travel. Looking at the whole country, the 12306 railway air rail intermodal service has been connected to 7 airlines, covering 97 hub cities, 192 transfer stations, and 6149 connecting routes in China. The implementation and application of information technology make road traffic more orderly. On the Chihong Expressway, drones hover high in the sky, and high-speed traffic police shout in the air, providing remote congestion warnings and directing vehicles to queue in an orderly manner. Relying on 913 intelligent cameras and equipped with over 90 intelligent inspection vehicles and drones, the Hubei Provincial Department of Transport has established an intelligent emergency command and dispatch system, which enables real-time monitoring of highway conditions. In case of situations such as reverse traffic or congestion, emergency response measures will be taken immediately. The comprehensive promotion of electronic invoices allows passengers to travel more easily. Luoyang Longmen Station is bustling with people. In the past, there was a long queue of people printing invoices, but now there are few passengers queuing up to print ticket reimbursement vouchers. With the comprehensive promotion of digital electronic invoices in November last year, China's railway passenger tickets have become paperless, from cardboard tickets and magnetic media tickets to "facial recognition" entry and electronic invoices... Passengers can process their tickets with just one click from boarding to invoicing and reimbursement. Service upgrades and technological assistance make the Spring Festival travel full of warmth. Launch the "e-Road Smooth" WeChat mini program for one click access to road condition information, roadside assistance, service area information, and more; By using millimeter wave human body imaging security screening equipment, the average security screening time for passengers has been reduced from 30 seconds to 15 seconds; Scan the QR code to summon a mobile charging robot for charging, changing from "people looking for charging stations" to "charging stations looking for people"... New generation information technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are accelerating their application and landing, making the Spring Festival travel rush more efficient and enjoyable. The interweaving of return and journey - Spring Festival travel rush has more "ways to open up". How can we celebrate this year's Spring Festival in a different way? Beijing resident Shi Jia chooses a different way of celebrating: on New Year's Eve, he takes the high-speed train back to his hometown in Shandong to celebrate the New Year; On the third day of the Lunar New Year, I drove with my whole family to Zhangjiakou, Hebei for skiing; On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, take the high-speed train back to Beijing to resume work. The 8-day Spring Festival holiday has given rise to a "transitional vacation", where many people first go home to visit relatives, then travel, and finally return to work and school. The interweaving of return and travel has ignited holiday travel and also spawned a hot cultural and tourism market. According to Didi Car Rental data, about 35% of this year's Spring Festival travel rush orders are long-term rental orders for "transitional vacations", which means going home to visit relatives and then going out to use the car. The average rental period for Spring Festival travel is 5 days, which is 2.5 times that of weekdays. From 'having money or not to go home for the Chinese New Year' to 'I came to your city', people's travel needs are changing, and supply is also changing accordingly. Create new scenarios where travelers become tourists. At the beginning of the new year, the first ice and snow themed train in China, the K5197 train, slowly departed from Harbin Station. The car follows people, and the scenery moves with the car. In the themed carriages with different styles, passengers can change into different clothes and experience free travel photography and check-in services. With the support of railway station and train resources, the ice and snow travel photography themed train opened by China Railway Harbin Bureau connects popular stations such as Harbin Station and Yabulinan Station, transforming transportation into a tourist scene. During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the passenger load factor of trains has increased to over 90%, and the number of passengers has risen to over 1600 during peak hours. Adapt to new demands and turn niche into mass market. This year's Spring Festival travel rush, many airlines have opened niche routes, and the popularity continues to rise. In addition to the significant increase in passenger volume in "ice and snow tourism" destinations such as Harbin, Changchun, Urumqi, and "cold escape tourism" destinations such as Haikou and Sanya, ticket orders for niche destinations such as Yanji in Jilin have also grown rapidly. With the further expansion of visa free "friend circle", the Spring Festival travel rush has reached its peak for inbound and outbound tourism. From the data of Where to Travel, foreign tourists are keen to gain a deeper understanding of China, and the number of international tourists in second - and third tier cities such as Nantong in Jiangsu, Taizhou in Zhejiang, and Yining in Xinjiang has increased. The Spring Festival travel rush has come to a successful end, and the picture of China's mobility is still unfolding. Through the new weather of the Spring Festival travel rush, China, full of vitality, is striding into the hopeful spring. (New Society)