Passenger traffic in China soars during May Day holiday

This photo taken on May 3, 2023 shows passengers in the waiting hall of Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, east China. China is bracing for a fresh travel peak as a growing number of travelers hit the road and returned to work as the five-day May Day holiday drew to an end on Wednesday. [Xinhua/Wang Xiang]

BEIJING -- The passenger volume handled by China's commercial transport network during the May Day holiday could hit over 270 million trips, or a daily average of 54.04 million, up 162.9 percent from a year ago, the Ministry of Transport projected Wednesday.

During the five-day holiday ending Wednesday, the first such holiday since China optimized its COVID-19 response measures, the country's railways are expected to see a daily average of 18.18 million passenger trips, up 464.4 percent from the 2022 May Day holiday, said the ministry.

The daily average passenger flow by air is likely to reach 1.88 million trips, 507.4 percent higher than the same period last year, while the figures for highways and waterways are expected to jump by 99.1 percent and 114.2 percent, respectively, it said.

Expressway traffic flow during the holiday is expected to grow by 101.83 percent to nearly 62.1 million trips per day, according to the ministry.

It is estimated that the domestic tourist trips during the holiday surged by 70.83 percent year-on-year to reach 274 million, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) said on Wednesday.

Tourism revenue reached 148.06 billion yuan (about 21.4 billion U.S. dollars), up 128.9 percent from last year, according to the MCT.

Approximately 47,500 public cultural and entertainment events were held across the country, with around 166 million people participating in, said the MCT.