【中国铁路】外宣媒体聚焦铁路春运精彩瞬间！

What's made it possible for millions of people to join their families for the most important festival on the Chinese calendar is the country's extensive railway network spanning over 50-thousand kilometers. 

In northern China, a newly opened high-speed railway has cut travel time across deserts and grasslands, bringing families closer, faster. Our reporter Wan Hongjia reports from one of the trains en route to Inner Mongolia. 

"Hello."

"Hi, Happy New Year! Wow, it's freezing today."

"It really is."

We met Humujiletu on a high-speed train bound for Ulanqab. He's heading back to his home in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. 

He now works as a plumber in a city more than 700 kilometers away. But today, like millions of others during the Spring Festival travel rush, he is going home. 

The newly opened Baotou–Yinchuan High-Speed Railway has cut Humujiletu's journey by half. 

Reporter: "What time did you set off today?"

HUMUJILETU Passenger "I got on at 9:58 this morning. It used to take about eight hours, basically a whole day on the train. Now, with high-speed rail, it's under four hours, half the time."

Outside the window, temperatures have dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius. 

But inside the carriage, it is warm. Humujiletu says even small details make a difference, like seats with charging ports that can keep his phone turned on. That eases a common winter worry. 

BAI RONG Engineer at Wuhai Station, China Railway Hohhot Group "The station has introduced an intelligent control system. It monitors and adjusts lighting, heating, ventilation and elevators in real time, creating a more comfortable waiting environment for passengers."

On this journey, staying connected means staying close to home. 

"Does that mean you'll be with me this afternoon?"

"Yes, Daddy will be there this afternoon."

As the train moves forward, a familiar melody fill the carriage. 

HUMUJILETU Passenger "When I heard the melody of 'Galloping Horses,' all I wanted was to go home. I grew up with that song. To me, it means Spring Festival."

The most important moment of the year is drawing closer. But Humujiletu doesn't hurry off the station. At the Ice and Snow Tourism Service Desk, he listens carefully, asking about activities for his child. 

WAN HONGJIA Ulanqab Railway Station "Humujiletu has already planned the holiday with his family. As China continues to develop, people like him have more choices for work, and home may feel farther away. But during the Spring Festival, every distance fades on trains like this – each journey carrying one simple purpose: getting back home."

Aboard a train traveling along the China-Laos Railway, performers celebrate Chinese New Year with music and dance, highlighting growing ties between the two nations.

YANG JINGHAO Yunnan Province "As the Chinese New Year draws near, this train on the China-Laos Railway is turning into a moving celebration. Let's go check it out."

From Kunming to the border town of Mohan, over the four-hour journey, people from cities along the route staged dozens of performances, including traditional music, folk dances and creative shows highlighting regional culture.

TANG ZHONGWEI Performer, Wa Ethnic Group "We performed a traditional folk tune that has been passed down for generations, combined with some modern musical elements."

DAO YUTING Performer, Dai Ethnic Group "This is a silver bowl. We usually put some water in it and use leaves to sprinkle it on our friends as a way of sending our blessings."

Organizers also prepared local specialties from cities along the route.

YANG JINGHAO Yunnan Province "We're now arriving in Pu'er City – China's largest coffee-producing region. Time to grab a sip and see what it tastes like."

The cross-border railway links Kunming in southwest China with the Laotian capital, Vientiane. It began operation in 2021.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Laos. The event highlights the railway as a bridge of friendship.

YANG JINGHAO Yunnan Province "Dumplings are a must eat during the Chinese New Year. With these dumplings, wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Horse!"

PONGDONG PAXAPHACDY Consul General of Laos in Kunming "May you all enjoy good health, success in your careers, and happiness in the year ahead!"

In our special series Reunions Apart, we bring you stories of those who remain on duty during the Spring Festival holiday. Today, we follow a train conductor who has spent countless Chinese New Years away from her family, helping others get home. Reporter Chen Mengfei begins the story at a train station's arrival gate. 

Each day, millions of Chinese take the train for all kinds of reasons. 

But during the Spring Festival, it's all about one journey: home, to the people you love. 

Thousands of trains power the world's largest annual migration. 

One of them is T48, running from the northeastern city of Qiqihar to Beijing. 

On this day, the conductor is Wang Xiaoming. She begins her preparations ten hours before departure. 

Her college-aged daughter is at home, while her husband, also a conductor, is on the road. 

For this railway family, seeing all three together under one roof is a rarity. 

WANG XIAOMING Conductor of T48, China Railway Harbin Group Qiqihar Section "I remember so vividly when I first got married. I took a small calendar to mark the days my husband and I could have off together. When I was done, I realized that out of 31 days, we only matched on seven. I had a breakdown right there – I thought, how would we make it?"

But the family endured, adapted, and learned to live with goodbyes. 

Today, Wang's focus is elsewhere – she has a show to put on. 

WANG XIAOMING Conductor of T48, China Railway Harbin Group Qiqihar Section "I asked everyone to come in early today because of our train's Spring Festival Gala performance. We need to rehearse in full makeup this afternoon – so that I know we are ready."

For the past 20 years, this train has hosted its own Spring Festival Gala.

It began as a way to lift the spirits of homesick staff. Today, it also entertains passengers and highlights the character of the route. 

All the performers are members of Wang's crew. 

She can be strict – but she's also quick to give praise. 

WANG XIAOMING Conductor of T48, China Railway Harbin Group Qiqihar Section "You see these young ladies here are so beautiful, in our line of work, it includes cleaning the bathrooms. No matter how dirty it is. Because we have to create a very clean environment for the passengers. I think this is the most important thing – you know, what does it mean to take responsibility? I believe that in an ordinary job like ours, this is exactly what it is all about."

Once passengers are on board, it's showtime. 

There's singing, dancing, magic trick, and of course, a robot. 

The crew delivers a lively performance – and the passengers are pleasantly surprised. 

"In all my years of taking the train, this is so rare to encounter!"

"This is my first time experiencing such a grand ceremony on a train."

But for Wang, the most special audience member is her daughter – attending the performance for the very first time. 

WANG XIAOMING Conductor of T48, China Railway Harbin Group Qiqihar Section "This is so precious to me. Because of the nature of my job, my daughter and I are more often apart than together. Being able to let her experience my work environment on the train — and feel the enthusiasm of the passengers — means a great deal to me. It's a moment in my career that I'll always remember."

CAO LIN Wang Xiaoming' daughter "I'm my mom's biggest fan. When I was little, I used to ask my mom not to go to work and just stay home with me. But after I grew up, I really understood why she does this job. When she's not by my side, it's because she's helping more people get home to their families. So I've come to terms with it."

After the applause fades, the work continues. 

As passengers turn in for the night, the train rolls on— toward a morning of reunions. 

Chen Mengfei, CGTN, on T48. 

China's northeastern city of Harbin has become one of the country's coolest winter destinations. Our reporter Cao Chufeng shows us how the city is getting creative this Chinese New Year, turning unique experiences into major attractions for tourists from around the world.

Welcome to one of China's most dramatic trains.

CAO CHUFENG Harbin "In here, you can be a European princess."

"A student from Hogwarts."

"Or step into a Chinese historical drama."

Free makeup. Free costume rentals. Free photo shoots – even free photo editing. This train in Harbin isn't just about the journey – it's also a full photo-shoot package.

Many in the photography team are train conductors – professionally trained to provide these services while off-duty. This creative concept has drawn much interest.

SU RUIQI Train Conductor, Harbin Passenger Transport Section China Railway Harbin Group "When we first started, our team was very small. I am the make-up artist, and we only had one photographer and one editor. But this year, with more passengers and higher demand, our team has expanded."

ZHOU HANGYU Train Police Officer Harbin Railway Public Security Division "This train can accommodate 285 passengers, and almost every trip is fully booked – tickets are hard to get."

This type of tourism is part of China's broader push to create new consumption scenarios – and upgrade existing ones – to drive spending. Its appeal isn't limited to domestic travelers. Visitors like Ms. Xu, who flew from Colombia, have put the train on their must-do list.

XU XIUTING Tourist from Colombia "I am quite satisfied. The photo-shoot team is very warm and welcoming."

Creativity has long been at the heart of Harbin's tourism industry.

"Why did you choose to come to such a cold place?"

RAVI PIPALIA Tourist from India "To experience the Ice and Snow World. I am an architect. For me it's like an engineering marvel."

The Harbin Ice and Snow World he mentioned is right here. It is the world's largest ice-and-snow complex. Rebuilt entirely each winter, the park continues to evolve, blending massive ice architecture with new technologies.

SUN ZEMIN Deputy Director, Marketing Department Harbin Ice-Snow World Park Co., Ltd. "These are real fish frozen inside the ice. It may not look very special at first glance – but there's actually some 'cool tech' behind it. First, artificial ice usually turns cloudy, but these blocks are crystal clear. Second, the fish are suspended right in the center of the ice."

From themed trains to the world-famous Ice and Snow World, Harbin is creatively curating unforgettable experiences. By upgrading and diversifying its tourism offerings, the city continues to attract visitors from across the globe. Cao Chufeng, CGTN, Harbin.

More than 100 bullet trains line up like "land aircraft carriers," poised for the return rush. On the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, Wuhan's largest high-speed rail maintenance base works through the night to ensure every journey is safe and smooth. With 258 trainsets in full service-supported by engineers, robots, and AI systems-this is China's speed in action. Join CGTN reporter Xia Ruixue in her hometown of Wuhan, where steel, technology, and dedication keep millions moving. 

More than 100 bullet trains lined up like "land aircraft carriers," poised for the return rush. On the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, Wuhan's largest high-speed rail maintenance base works through the night to ensure every journey is safe and smooth.  From here, services connect more than 50 major cities across the country.

As China's railway system continues to push risk control and operational governance further forward, the annual Spring Festival travel rush remains its most demanding test. The 2026 chunyun period is expected to set new records, with passenger trips projected to reach about 539 million over the 40-day travel season, according to the China State Railway Group. Widely regarded as the world's largest annual human migration, the Spring Festival holiday travel rush has in recent years involved some 9 billion passenger trips across all modes of transport, reflecting both the cultural importance of the holiday and the sheer scale of China's transportation system.

Yet the challenge facing China's railways during chunyun is not simply one of moving more people. It is a test of governance — whether risks can be anticipated, systems coordinated and responses executed before disruptions occur. Each year, the network operates under sustained peak pressure, subjecting infrastructure, personnel and decision-making systems to an intensive but largely invisible stress test.

System stress test

For China's railways, the Spring Festival holiday period represents the most demanding operating conditions of the year. Passenger volumes surge, maintenance windows shrink and operational margins narrow across the network. Unlike ordinary peak seasons, the holiday rush stretches the limits of the system to the utmost for an extended period, increasing the potential for small disruptions to cascade across regions.

Railway engineers often describe chunyun operations as an "extreme operating state". Passenger services increase sharply while freight trains continue to run on tight schedules, leaving little room for error. The task is not simply to dispatch more trains, but to ensure that a highly complex system continues to function reliably under sustained stress.

Much of the work that supports Spring Festival operations takes place out of public view. At night, when passenger services pause briefly, maintenance teams enter tightly scheduled "window periods" to inspect tracks, tunnels and critical structures. Many inspections are conducted underground or in remote locations, where access itself requires careful planning and coordination.

In Beijing, a young team of high-speed rail track grinders, mostly in their early 20s, takes on some of the most precise maintenance tasks. On cold, dark mornings before dawn, sparks fly as the workers push their 200-kilogram grinding machines along the tracks, smoothing microscopic irregularities in the steel rails. "These tiny 'skin problems', sometimes smaller than a millimeter, directly affect train stability and passenger comfort. We have to fix them before they become serious," said Liu Qiang, the team leader. Each night, the eight-member team walks nearly 6 kilometers while grinding tracks, completing up to 50 back-and-forth passes in their designated section.

This work, though largely unseen, is crucial to maintaining the smooth, stable rides high-speed passengers expect.

When the train is running at 350 km per hour, a cup of water shouldn't wobble, a coin shouldn't fall. "Our team's precision makes that possible," said Xu Leigang, an engineer from the Beijing high-speed rail maintenance department with the China Railway Beijing Group.

Critical maintenance

Similar inspections continue across the network under far more demanding environmental conditions. In northern regions, winter temperatures can fall below minus 20 C. Rail inspection teams conduct routine overnight checks using ultrasonic testing equipment to detect internal flaws in steel rails — defects invisible on the surface but capable of worsening rapidly under low temperatures and repeated loading.

Along the Beijing-Harbin high-speed railway near Chengde in Hebei province, inspectors scan rail tracks section by section as train frequency increases during the Spring Festival holiday period. "Cold temperatures change how steel behaves," said engineer Liu Zhengyang. "Identifying internal risks early allows maintenance to be scheduled before they affect operations."

By treating winter conditions as a normal operating parameter rather than an emergency scenario, railway authorities aim to reduce uncertainty during the busiest travel period of the year. The work of the grinding teams exemplifies this philosophy: they combine skill, precision, and new technology to anticipate problems before they disrupt services.

Some of the most complex maintenance work takes place inside long mountain tunnels, where access is limited and environmental conditions vary sharply. On the Beijing–Hong Kong high-speed railway, the Wan'an tunnel extends nearly 14 km through the hills of southern Jiangxi province. After the final train passes at night, inspection teams enter through designated access shafts, following established safety protocols for ventilation, communication and emergency response.

Within narrow maintenance windows, crews inspect electrical systems, structural linings and drainage facilities. Groundwater management remains a persistent concern. "Water management requires continuous intervention," said maintenance worker Yan Junliang. "The objective is to address issues before they affect equipment or train operations." By integrating such inspections into routine maintenance cycles, railway operators aim to prevent small structural issues from escalating under peak traffic conditions.

A defining feature of modern railway operations is the effort to move risk control as far forward as possible. Rather than relying on post-failure repairs, railway authorities increasingly emphasize early warning and preventive maintenance. Real-time monitoring systems track changes in track alignment, bridge stress and equipment performance, enabling engineers to intervene before minor irregularities develop into operational disruptions.

On major high-speed corridors, maintenance teams use night windows to fine-tune track conditions with millimeter-level accuracy. For large bridges and other critical structures, long-term monitoring data supports continuous assessment of structural condition, supplementing routine visual inspections. The story of Liu Qiang and his team illustrates how human skill and technology converge to maintain system reliability. "It's cold, it's tiring, but knowing that our work keeps passengers comfortable and safe makes it worthwhile," Liu said.

Inside railway dispatch and command centers, workers monitor large volumes of operational data throughout the Spring Festival holiday period. Equipment performance indicators, traffic flows and system alerts are reviewed continuously to identify anomalies that may signal emerging risks. "Most technical issues leave patterns in the data before they become visible on the ground," said Song Fang, a dispatcher from China Railway Chengdu Group. "Our role is to identify those signals early enough for intervention to remain routine."

Extreme weather

Winter weather adds another layer of complexity to Spring Festival operations, particularly in mountainous and western regions. Along sections of the Sichuan-Qinghai railway, maintenance crews conduct scheduled inspections of communication and power supply systems in snow-covered terrain. High-altitude towers and overhead equipment are checked according to standardized procedures for cold-weather and high-altitude operations. Rather than treating snow and ice as exceptional disruptions, railway authorities incorporate winter maintenance into regular operating plans, managing weather-related risks as part of routine system governance rather than emergency response.

While skilled railway personnel remain essential to Spring Festival operations, the system increasingly relies on structured coordination rather than individual endurance alone. Monitoring technologies extend human perception, standardized procedures guide decision-making, and redundancy reduces dependence on last-minute intervention. Human expertise functions within an integrated framework designed to operate reliably under peak stress.

For most travelers, Spring Festival rail journeys are measured in departure times and ticket availability. Largely unseen is the continuous testing of infrastructure, coordination and risk management that makes those journeys possible. Each year, the Spring Festival holiday travel rush serves as a quiet examination of the railway system's governance capacity. That trains continue to run smoothly under extreme demand is not the result of improvisation, but of systems designed to anticipate pressure and manage it before it becomes visible. In that sense, the steady movement of trains during the holiday season reflects not only transport capacity, but also the ability of complex public systems to function reliably at scale — consistently, predictably and largely out of sight.

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Record travel volumes were expected across China on Monday, the final day of the Spring Festival holiday, as highways, rail stations and airports nationwide filled with people returning to work and school after the Chinese New Year break.

Cross-regional passenger trips were projected to reach about 362.6 million on Monday, according to the Ministry of Transport on Monday, keeping travel demand high.

The surge followed Sunday's travel high, when nationwide mobility reached 380.35 million trips, the busiest day of this year's holiday period and among the highest single-day totals ever recorded during the annual Spring Festival travel season.

Passenger flows have climbed steadily since Thursday, with daily travel volumes exceeding historical levels for the same period for three consecutive days, reflecting a concentrated wave of post-vacation returns as the holiday drew to a close.

China's 40-day Spring Festival travel season, known as chunyun, passed its halfway mark on Saturday, 20 days after the travel rush began on Feb 2.

Widely regarded as the world's largest recurring movement of people, this year's travel season is expected to generate a record 9.5 billion cross-regional trips, including about 540 million rail journeys and 95 million air passenger trips, according to official estimates.

Travel demand became more concentrated during the nine-day public holiday that concluded on Monday, contributing to higher daily peaks in recent days.

Railways were expected to handle 18.5 million passenger trips on Monday, marking the peak of return travel by train, with operators scheduling 2,297 additional services nationwide to meet demand.

In Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, railway stations reported peak return passenger flows on Monday.

Stations in Nanchang, Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province added security screening lanes and ticket service counters to manage surging arrivals, while additional workers were deployed in waiting halls and passenger service areas in cities such as Shangrao, Yingtan, Quanzhou and Longyan to assist travelers during busy periods.

"There were a lot of people today, but everything moved in an orderly way," said Wang Yulin, a passenger waiting at Nanchang Railway Station.

"There were staffers helping passengers with directions and luggage," she said.

Road travel continued to dominate holiday mobility, with highway traffic forecast to exceed 66 million vehicle trips, as self-driving travel remained the primary choice for many families. Air travel was expected to reach about 2.65 million passenger trips, while waterways were projected to carry roughly 1.6 million travelers.

In Beijing, the return surge brought sustained arrival flows at major railway stations and airports, with transport authorities extending late-night subway services and increasing bus and taxi capacity to accommodate passengers arriving throughout the evening, according to the city's transport commission on Monday.

Traffic pressure was reported around key transport hubs as travelers returned ahead of the first working day after the holiday.

With the public holiday ending at midnight, transport flows are expected to remain elevated into Tuesday as regular work and school schedules resume nationwide, the transport authority said.