China reports record daily number of rail passenger trips for year to date

China reported a total of 20.09 million railway passenger trips on Friday, a single-day record for the year to date, the country's railway operator said on Saturday.

The latest high of 2025 was seen on Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which was also the first day of a national three-day holiday.

On Saturday, China's national railway system is expected to handle 13.55 million passenger trips, facilitated by an additional 622 scheduled passenger trains, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd..

On the Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed railway, special flower-viewing train services -- similar to bus services -- have been organized to facilitate sightseers traveling to scenic regions such as Han Zhong, Cheng Gu and Yang Xian, China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd. said.

Traditionally a time during which Chinese people pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors, the three-day Qingming holiday also provides a short break for Chinese residents to take spring outings or go sightseeing.

Earlier this week, China Railway said that the travel rush during the holiday is set to span a total of five days, and that it expects 84.5 million passenger trips to be made from April 3 to 7, averaging 16.9 million trips each day.