Railway traffic surges as holiday begins

BEIJING - China's railways saw an increase in passenger trips as the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday kicked off, according to data released on Saturday by railway authorities.

Some 7.6 million passenger trips were made on China's railways on Friday, increasing 15.9 percent from a year earlier, and 8.7 million trips are expected on Saturday, said the China Railway Corporation.

To cope with the rising traffic, China has added over 200 temporary trains to ease the pressure, the corporation said.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It falls on June 2 this year.

The festival commemorates famous ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Chinese people eat zongzi, a rice dumpling, and race dragon boats during the holiday.