China’s train ticket reservation system crashed these past few days, as millions tried to buy tickets for the upcoming May Day holiday. Denied a family reunion during the major holidays of late, today’s most popular online slogan has become, “It’s too hard to go home”.
This May Day holiday in China is a long one. With 5 days to themselves, many people in China are rubbing their hands with glee in their excitement.
Train tickets for the holiday went on sale this past Saturday, 17 April. Many could not even wait until then, as a large number of netizens found the China Railways official app, 12306, to already be in trouble the day before. They were trying to score a ticket for 30 April, in order to beat the rush.
For many though, it was in vain. Users found they could not receive the verification code or submit their order. Others couldn’t log in at all.
On Saturday afternoon, customer service staff at 12306 confirmed that the app had crashed, with 8:00 to 11:00 on 16 April representing the down time peak. The system returned to normal soon after.
At present, Xi’an, Changsha, Wuhan, Chongqing, and Chengdu are the five most popular train ticket destinations for 30 April. The five cities which will see the greatest number of departing trains are Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and our very own Nanjing.
As of this afternoon, The Nanjinger was not able to find a ticket for any class of travel on a high-speed train from Nanjing to Wuhan on 30 April. Sourcing a ticket from Nanjing to Changsha wasn’t much better, with only 1 ticket available on a handful of trains.
In the air, economy-class flights between Beijing and hot destination, Sanya, on 30 April and 1 May, are sold out. Only business-class tickets with prices in the tens of thousands of renminbi are available, reported Sohu.
Not that economy-class tickets are that cheap either. According to multiple sources, the cheapest tickets for the holiday period are anywhere between 20 and 50 percent more expensive that in 2019.
At a press conference on 16 April held by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), a representative said that the 5-day holiday will fully release the air-transport demand suppressed in the early stages [of the epidemic].
According to its forecast for domestic travel consumption during the holiday, major travel portal, Ctrip, confirmed that by 15 April, orders for air tickets, hotels, entrance tickets and car rentals were up by 23, 43, 114 and 126 percent respectively, over the same period in 2019.
So where to not go this May Day holiday?
Big data revealed by Ctrip has also broken down the top ten spots for which tickets have been purchased for the May Day holiday:
- Shanghai Disneyland
- Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum (Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an)
- Guangzhou Changlong Wildlife World
- Zhuhai Changlong Ocean Kingdom
- Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
- Beihai Weizhou Island
- Luoyang Longmen Grottoes
- Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
- Hengdian Film and Television City
As a whole, the number of pre-purchased, scenic-spot tickets is already more than double that of the same period in 2019. It is predicted that such explosive growth shall continue over the next 2 weeks.
But epidemic prevention remains top of mind for the authorities. CAAC has urged passengers to avoid travelling on the first and last days of the holiday and to try to utilise contact-less methods of checking in for their flight.
Meanwhile, Wu Zunyou, Chief Epidemiologist for the China Centre for Disease Control, has said people should always bear in mind that epidemic prevention and control cannot be relaxed. Wu reminded to continue to implement personal measures for prevention and control; wear masks, keep social distance, wash hands and ventilate spaces frequently.
