国内英语新闻:2.85 bln road journeys over festival period

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Thursday that about 2.85 billion passenger-trips by roads were made during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush this year, up 9.6 percent from the corresponding period last year.

A total of 42.45 million journeys were made by water during period from Jan. 8 to Feb. 16, up 1 percent year-on-year, said MOT Spokesman He Jianzhong.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, fell on Jan. 23 this year.

He said passenger traffic increased by 10 percent year-on-year during the travel rush before the Spring Festival day, and by 9.4 percent afterward.

To meet the rising demand, the country put into operation 850,000 units of vehicles, which made a daily average of 2.65 million trips during the festival travel period, according to He.

The provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu saw the most road passengers before the Spring Festival, while return journeys made by road passengers peaked in the provinces of Henan, Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi.

The Spring Festival holiday, which brings with it the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, began on Jan. 22 this year. Hundreds of millions of Chinese, mainly migrant workers and college students, travel home during the holiday every year to reunite with their families.