700 million people on the move for new year festival

The world's biggest annual migration has begun. For the next six weeks, 700 million Chinese people will return home for the Lunar new year holiday and are packing airports and train and bus stations.

Freezing weather means some are taking lengthy journeys on foot to celebrate the Spring Festival, the biggest date in China's calendar. All in all, they are undertaking 2.56 billion passenger trips as they head to their home towns to celebrate.

Transport services have been added all over the country to cope with the passenger surge, which is up by 11.6 per cent on last year, the Ministry of Transport said.