Lunar New Year travel scramble gets under way

The 40-day Lunar New Year travel rush - the largest annual migration of people on the planet - began yesterday with the first wave of home-bound passengers crowding into major transport hubs across the mainland.

In big cities such as Guangzhou, huge queues formed at the entrances to main train stations, as shown by texts and photos posted on Sina Weibo.

Large numbers of police controlled crowds in the square outside Guangzhou Railway Station.

A few tents were erected for new mothers to rest and feed their babies. And hot water and congee were offered free to those who had been camping in the square for days and nights.

Traffic around the giant Beijing West Station came to a standstill because of the influx of passengers. In Shanghai, migrant workers have already spent nights in cold, damp pedestrian tunnels near main train stations as they wait for seats on trains to become available.

The government expects more than 3.4 billion journeys will be made in the coming six weeks, 8.6 per cent more than last year and nearly three times the mainland's population.

Last month the government issued orders to every municipal and provincial head warning them that, while it was important to summon all means of transport to get people moving, the sudden increase in traffic could lead to more accidents.