Numerous passengers, with boxes under arm and in hand, have been flocking to railway stations, ports and airports these days and queues for tickets wind for 200 meters long in China's largest city of Shanghai.

Shanghai, the communications hub in east China, has been seized in the hustle and bustle of Spring Festival travel season which peaked from 19th through 23rd, the new year's eve for China's lunar new year which falls on January 24.

The city has reported a significant growth in passenger flow this year compared with the Spring Festival travel season last year, with the number of passengers likely to exceed 130,000 a day.

Despite great efforts made to arrange more temporary trains and to prolong ticket-selling period for the festive season, passengers still complained about difficulty in getting tickets.

However, expressway has helped lift the passenger flow pressure on railway to some extent. The number of passengers going out of and coming into Shanghai through expressway has increased by some 30 percent these days over the same period last year.

Some passengers turned to air as the last resort. The number of passengers handled by airliners has also increased by over 30 percent on a daily basis these days.

(People’s Daily 01/21/2001)