Ticket sales begin for Spring Festival travel peak

Travelers queue up to board a train at the Tianjin Railway station in Tianjin, North China, January 5, 2009. From January 1, 2009, more than 50,000 people have started their journey home every day from Tianjin railway station for Spring Festival family reunion. [Xinhua]

Travelers arrived at the Tianjin Railway station, January 5, 2009. From January 1, 2009, more than 50,000 people have started their journey home every day from Tianjin railway station for Spring Festival family reunion. [Xinhua]

Spring Festival travel in China officially starts next Sunday, but the scramble for train tickets has already begun.

Passengers can book tickets 10 days in advance, and 470,000 tickets have already been reserved in the past 2 days in Guangdong province. On Saturday, Chengdu Station in Sichuan province sold 70,000 tickets, including 27,000 for student.

In Wuhan city in Hubei province, 60,000 tickets were sold, more than half of them to students.

The Ministry of Railways says train stations across China expect to handle a record 188 million passengers, up 8 percent from last year.