Chaos ensues as 2015 Spring Festival transportation begins

A passenger squeezes his luggage into an already-full luggage compartment at a bus station in the Rongshui Miao autonomous county, Liuzhou, Guangxi, on Feb 4. [Photo by Long Tao/Xinhua]

A volunteer provides a hot ginger drink to a driver heading to his hometown in the Longsheng Ge autonomous county, Guilin, Guangxi, on Feb 4. [Photo by Wei Jiyang/Xinhua]

Feb 4 was the first day of the 2015 Spring Festival transportation rush. During the 40-day travel rush period, a total of over 2.8 billion people in China are expected to travel, with the exception of bus and taxi trips. 100 million more people than last year are expected to travel this year during the Spring Festival vacation, a 3.4 percent increase.

Facing with a large flow of passengers – 40 percent more than ordinary days – railways, highways, civil aviation and water transportation services have taken extra measures, such as adding new vehicles and peak shifting to help people get home for New Year’s Eve.

Edited by Jake Hooson