Dragon Boat travel rush begins

With the three-day Dragon Boat Festival beginning on Friday, major railway stations in the Yangtze River Delta region expect to see 2.5 million people off on Thursday, 10 percent more than last year.

While people will be heading off on Thursday, Friday and even Saturday, almost everyone is expected to return home on Sunday, which may be a very busy day indeed.

People are not going far. The majority will be remaining in the neighboring provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with plenty of people flooding into Shanghai for the weekend. The three major railway terminals in the city have organized more than 100 extra trains to cope with the flow.

Since Spring Festival, Hongqiao Railway Station has automated ticket inspections with facial recognition technology, making check-in much quicker and easier. All you need to do is scan your ID card and look into the camera. However, there will still be plenty of staff on duty to deal with those, mainly expats, who bought tickets using other forms of ID.

Downpours and gales are expected in the Yangtze River Delta on Thursday and Friday and may affect train operations, but passengers can keep up with developments via the 12306 app.