This Day, That Year: Summer travel begins

An old couple poses in front of a high-speed train in Qingdao, Shandong province, on July 1, the first day of this year's summer travel. [Photo/VCG]

2016

This year's summer travel started on July 1 and will end on Aug 31. More than 560 million train trips are expected to be made during that period, up 11 percent year-on-year, according to China Railway Corp.

The demand for flights has also gone up sharply. To meet the increasing demand, China Southern Airlines arranged 6,000 more flights during the period, including more than 1,000 international flights.

Almost 60 percent of those polled in a recent online survey said they had travel plans for the summer, and many of them plan to go abroad.

As Chinese tourists are some of the biggest spenders abroad, many countries have eased visa requirements to attract them.

In November 2014, the US government started issuing multi-entry visas valid for up to 10 years. The United Kingdom and Australia are also considering the extension of their visa validity to 10 years.