Special Spring Festival train tickets have gone on sale

As of Monday, people can buy train tickets online or over the phone for the first day of “chunyun,” a 40-day travel rush period around the Spring Festival. Only tickets for temporary trains mobilized for chunyun went on sale Monday, five days before the ones for regular trains become available, according to an announcement by the China Railway Corp. The Spring Festival, or China’s lunar new year, is the nation’s most important traditional holiday for family reunions. Most people return home for the festival, putting pressure on the country’s transportation system. The coming Spring Festival falls on Jan 31. This year’s chunyun, literally translated as “spring transportation,” is scheduled for Jan 16 to Feb 24, 2014.