春运高峰从2月9日开始

It's that time of year again, the big journey home for millions of Chinese people, to spend the Spring Festival with their families. The first round of travel peaks begun on Monday this week and will continue for about a week.

Train passengers will get a free refund for a cancellation made 15 days before their planned travel date. On the road, the tickets pre-sale service has been extended to one month.

Authorities said there has been a shortage of tickets from Guangzhou to counties in its neighbouring Hunan province. Meanwhile, a number of airline routes are in high demand, particularly outbound flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The second round of travel peaks is expected to begin from February 26th when students return to school.