Cross-border travel surge expected during Qingming holiday

China is expected to see more than 2.3 million cross-border trips a day during the Qingming Festival holiday from April 4 to 6, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier, the National Immigration Administration said on Wednesday.

The administration noted that Qingming, a traditional holiday for tomb sweeping and honoring ancestors, has also long been a popular time for spring outings. This year, the travel rush is expected to be stronger as some regions have introduced spring breaks for primary and secondary school students, while Hong Kong and Macao will also have a five-day holiday.

Passenger flows at major international airports, including Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan province, and Guangdong province's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, are expected to post slight increases. Traffic at land ports bordering Hong Kong and Macao is expected to rise more sharply, driven by growing numbers of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents returning home for ancestral rites, as well as overseas Chinese and inbound tourists.

Among them, Shenzhen's Luohu, Futian, Shenzhen Bay, West Kowloon high-speed rail station, and Liantang checkpoints are expected to handle about 250,000, 230,000, 190,000, 120,000, and 110,000 crossings a day, respectively. In Zhuhai, the Gongbei, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Qingmao, and Hengqin checkpoints are forecast to record daily cross-border flows of 375,000, 152,000, 113,000, and 113,000, respectively.