Holiday travelers cause congestion

As people bid farewell to the three-day New Year's Day holiday and returned to metropolises such as Beijing on Monday, they faced heavy traffic congestion.

Up to 9.58 million people were estimated to travel by train nationwide on Monday, according to China Railway Corp, China's railway service provider — a 17-percent increase compared with last year.

More than 7.45 million trips were made on Sunday, the second day of the holiday, an 11-percent rise compared with last year.

To cater to high demand, 187 additional temporary trains were put into operation, with the railway bureau advising passengers to pick up tickets booked online in advance to avoid long queues and rushed boarding.

In addition to trains, expressways also saw increased traffic.

Major roadways entering Beijing, including the Beijing-Chengde Expressway, the Beijing-Tibet Expressway and Beijing's Sixth Ring Road, experienced congestion starting on Monday afternoon, according to live traffic monitoring by the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau.

The bureau estimated traffic peaks would last throughout the day up until about 10 pm.

According to China National Tourism Administration, the country pocketed 67.9 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) from 120 million trips during the New Year's Day holiday from Saturday to Monday.

Most tourists traveled only a short distance, not taking advantage of the toll-free roads, the administration said. Usually, all roads are toll free during the four major Chinese holidays, including the Spring Festival holiday.

China Railway increased the number of trains it had in operation during the New Year's Day holiday to 461, and were used for a total of 26.7 million trips. An estimated 2.6 million trips were conducted using airlines over the holiday.

The administration also said the number of tourists who chose overseas tour packages increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year, without disclosing the specific number. South Korea and Japan were still among the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists, while Thailand and the Philippines were also popular choices.