Views: Travel Travails

Lines at the train station were densely packed, weeks ahead of the country's Spring Festival travel period / CFP

The Spring Festival is an annual holiday that sees China's many far-flung families gather to celebrate the lunar new year, which this year runs from January 31 to February 6. The holiday, also known as Chinese New Year, is sometimes called the world's largest annual migration. The government estimates that 3.62 billion trips will be made during the 40-day period starting January 16.