Short answer
Chunyun is the 40-day travel rush around the Spring Festival. In 2026 it ran from Monday 2 February to Friday 13 March, wrapped around Chinese New Year on Tuesday 17 February and an official holiday from Sunday 15 to Monday 23 February.
The problem is not the number of trains. China Railway releases seats 15 days ahead, adds extra services through the rush, and still sells out the outbound routes from the big coastal cities within minutes of each release hour. The waiting list converts often, and checking again after a train shows as sold out is routine, not optimistic.
The single most useful thing to know: the crush is one-directional. The trains leaving Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen before New Year's Eve are hopeless; the same routes running the other way are usually bookable. Travel against the flow, and chunyun becomes an ordinary trip.
What chunyun is, and the dates
Chunyun means spring transport: the 40-day window each year in which hundreds of millions of people working away from home travel back for the Spring Festival and return afterwards. It is the largest annual movement of people on earth, and it dictates how the railways, airlines, motorways and coach networks are run for six weeks.
| Item | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese New Year | Tue 17 February | Sat 6 February |
| New Year's Eve | Mon 16 February | Fri 5 February |
| Official holiday | Sun 15 – Mon 23 February (9 days) | Expected early February; notice pending |
| Chunyun window | Mon 2 February – Fri 13 March (40 days) | Roughly 22 January – early March, on the same 40-day pattern |
| Ticket release | 15 days ahead of each departure | Same rule as of this page |
The 2027 holiday arrangement had not been published when this page was written — the State Council notice normally appears in the autumn before. The Chinese New Year date is fixed by the lunar calendar and does not move, but the rest days and the make-up workdays around it are a government decision, so check the official announcement before booking anything non-refundable.
What is being celebrated is the family reunion dinner, not a national show. Chinese festivals and what they mean covers the customs side if you want to understand the point of the trip everyone is making.
Why the seats disappear
Official figures put the 2025 rush at around 9 billion inter-regional passenger trips across the 40 days, a record. That number counts road, rail, air and water, and it explains the shape of the problem: capacity is enormous, and demand still arrives faster than it can be scheduled.
Rail is where the pressure is sharpest, because a high-speed seat is cheap, comfortable and priced the same whether it is booked in November or sold out in seconds on release day. The network responds by running extra trains, including overnight services on the busiest corridors, and by releasing their seats in batches rather than all at once.
The flow is also lopsided. The pre-holiday rush runs out of the coastal and industrial cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Suzhou — towards the inland provinces people grew up in: Henan, Sichuan, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangxi. After the holiday, the same stream reverses. Outside those two windows, the rail network is at ordinary load.
How ticket buying actually works
Everything runs through 12306, the official railway platform, which has an English site and app for foreign passports. The mechanics are worth knowing before the rush, because the rush is the worst time to discover them.
- Register and verify your passport now, not in FebruaryUpload the passport data page and a photo of yourself holding the passport. Verification typically completes quickly; when it fails, it has to be finished at a station counter with the passport in hand, which is a poor task to discover on the morning of your train.
- Find your station's release hourNew tickets are released 15 days ahead at a fixed hour that differs by departure station and is published on 12306. Be at the screen at that hour, not that evening.
- Book both legs in the same sittingOutbound and return, the moment each window opens. The return leg is the one people forget, and it is where a booked trip turns into an unplanned extra week.
- Use the waiting list when a train is sold outThe waiting-list function queues your request and buys automatically if seats are released. During chunyun it converts regularly, because extra services are released in batches and cancelled bookings flow back into inventory.
- Check again two or three times a daySeats reappear when journeys are changed or refunded, and extra services are announced mid-rush. A route that was impossible at 09:00 can have seats at 16:00.
- Break the journey at a hubA direct train with no seats is not the only way. High-speed rail to a major junction and a connecting service from there usually has more total capacity than the through service.
- Consider the slow overnight trainSleeper services on the conventional network have more berths and often still have space when the high-speed trains on the same corridor are full. It takes longer and costs less.
- Never buy a ticket in someone else's nameChinese rail tickets are real-name. A ticket bought by a scalper is tied to the scalper's identity and will not get you through the gate, whatever the seller tells you. Licensed agencies buy in your name, with your passport details.
- Carry the passport you booked withThe e-ticket is linked to the document. Boarding, ticket checks and station entry all use the same passport, and a photocopy is not a substitute.
Two service notes on 12306: ticket sales and changes run from 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, Tuesdays 05:00 to 23:30, while queries and online refunds stay open around the clock. All of those hours are Beijing time. The pre-trip checklist covers the rest of the setup — payment apps, phone data and what to have ready before you land.
The days to avoid
Within the 40 days, pressure concentrates into about a week at each end. The middle of the holiday is the calm part.
| Window (2026) | What is happening | How bad it is |
|---|---|---|
| 2–10 Feb | Early trickle home | Manageable; seats still exist on most routes |
| 11–12 Feb | Last full working days | Heavy; outbound routes start selling out on release |
| 13–16 Feb | Outbound peak, ending on New Year's Eve | The worst window of the year on coastal-to-inland routes |
| 17–21 Feb | The holiday itself | Short local trips; long-distance demand drops sharply |
| 22–23 Feb | Return peak as the holiday ends | Heavy in the reverse direction, inland to coast |
| 24 Feb – 1 Mar | Second return wave and students | Busy but no longer extreme |
| 2–13 Mar | The long tail | Normal service resumes on most corridors |
What changes on the ground
The travel rush is a transport event, but the side effects reach into ordinary life for about two weeks.
- Stations run at capacity. Security and ticket checks queue from the entrance, and the concourse holds more people than it was designed for. Arriving 90 minutes before departure is not excessive on a peak day.
- Small businesses close. Family restaurants, repair shops, laundry services and market stalls shut for one to three weeks as their staff travel. Large chains, malls, convenience stores and hotel restaurants stay open, and hotels fill the gap with holiday menus.
- Banks and offices are shut for the holiday. Government offices, banks and most consular sections close from 15 to 23 February 2026. ATMs, card terminals and payment apps keep working, so daily life is unaffected.
- Resort destinations peak, business cities empty. Sanya, Harbin, Dali and Lijiang are at their busiest and most expensive, while business hotels in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen fall to their lowest rates of the year.
- Temples get crowded on the first days. New Year temple fairs and the first incense offering draw huge local crowds, which is a spectacle worth seeing and a poor place to be with luggage.
- Delivery slows. Courier and food delivery services thin out, since most of their riders are also travelling home. Order early, expect delays, and do not rely on same-day delivery in the first week of the holiday.
How to avoid chunyun entirely
Skipping the rush is a scheduling decision, and the windows are wide.
| Strategy | Timing | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Travel before the rush | Up to 31 January 2026 | Normal prices, normal trains; cold but quiet |
| Stay in a big city during the holiday | 15–23 February 2026 | Empty metro, cheap hotels, headline sights easier; some restaurants shut |
| Travel after the rush | From mid-March 2026 | The full network is available again; spring weather arrives in the south |
| Travel against the flow | Any time in the rush | Inland-to-coast legs stay bookable even on the peak days |
| Fly the hard leg only | 13–16 February 2026 | Fares are high and seats scarce, but the route exists when rail has nothing |
The counter-intuitive option is the strongest one. Beijing and Shanghai during the holiday are emptier than at any other time of the year, because the people who normally fill them are somewhere else. Hotel rates drop, the metro carries a fraction of its usual load, and the big sights take an hour less. The price is a closed noodle shop and a quieter street.
Weather and what to pack
Mid-February is deep winter in the north. Beijing typically runs from about minus 5 to 5°C, dry and bright; Harbin sits between minus 10 and minus 25°C with the ice festival still running; Shanghai and Hangzhou hover around 3 to 10°C with rain.
The detail that catches visitors out is indoors. Buildings south of the Yangtze usually have no central heating, so an unheated hotel room at 8°C is normal in February, and a thermal layer plus a light down jacket beats one heavy coat. Hand warmers, a scarf and shoes with grip on ice matter more than fashion. The holiday crowd calendar shows how the same dates behave across the rest of the year.
Frequently asked questions
When was Chunyun 2026?
The 2026 rush ran for 40 days, from Monday 2 February to Friday 13 March 2026. Chinese New Year fell on Tuesday 17 February, with New Year's Eve on Monday 16 February and the official holiday running Sunday 15 to Monday 23 February.
When is the Spring Festival in 2027?
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, with New Year's Eve on Friday 5 February. On the usual 40-day pattern the rush would run from roughly 22 January to early March 2027, but the State Council holiday notice for 2027 had not been published when this page was written, so treat those dates as expected rather than confirmed. Check the official announcement before booking anything non-refundable.
How far ahead do Spring Festival train tickets go on sale?
Fifteen days. China Railway releases seats 15 days before departure, so a 16 February departure goes on sale on 1 February. The release hour differs by departure station and is listed on 12306, and the busiest trains are gone within minutes of that hour.
Can foreigners buy Spring Festival train tickets?
Yes. Register on the official 12306 website or app with a foreign passport, then complete identity verification by uploading the passport data page and a photo of yourself holding the passport. Online verification usually passes within a short time; if it fails, the real-name verification has to be finished at a station counter with the passport in hand. The ticket is linked to the passport, and you board with the same passport.
What are the worst days to travel during chunyun?
In 2026 the outbound peak ran from Friday 13 to Monday 16 February, the last working days and the start of the holiday, and the return peak fell on Sunday 22 and Monday 23 February, with a second wave the following weekend. Travel in the middle of the holiday, around 18 to 20 February, and the network is noticeably calmer.
Can I buy a Spring Festival ticket from a scalper or an agent?
A resold ticket is worthless. Chinese rail tickets are real-name, and the ticket carries the passenger's identity, so the gate will not accept a ticket bought in someone else's name. Licensed agencies can only buy in your name with your passport details. Anyone offering to sell you a ready-made ticket is selling you a refusal at the gate.
Do trains stop running during the Spring Festival?
The network runs more trains during the rush, not fewer, including additional services on the busiest routes. The constraint is seats rather than services: extra trains are released in batches through the rush, which is why checking again after a train shows as sold out is worth the two minutes.
Do shops and restaurants close during the Spring Festival?
The ones run by families do. Many small restaurants, repair shops and market stalls in the big cities close for one to three weeks while their staff travel home, so the neighbourhood you stayed in last time can look shuttered. Malls, hotel restaurants, convenience stores and large chains stay open. Banks, government offices and most consular sections are closed for the whole holiday.
Is the Spring Festival a good time to visit the big cities?
It is one of the quietest and cheapest times of the year in them, because the people who live there have left. Metro trains are empty, hotels drop their rates, and the headline sights are easier to visit. The trade-off is closed restaurants, reduced museum hours around the first days of the holiday, and transport that is hard to book in the outbound direction.
Is it better to fly than to take the train during chunyun?
Flights help on the routes where rail is hopeless, but the airlines sell out and raise fares on exactly the same peak days, and winter weather adds cancellations. The rule that works is direction rather than mode: the outbound leg from a big coastal city in the days before New Year's Eve is the hard one, and the reverse leg on the same route is often available.
How cold is it during the Spring Festival?
Cold in the north and damp in the south. Beijing in mid-February typically runs around minus 5 to 5 degrees Celsius, Harbin minus 10 to minus 25 with the ice festival in full swing, and Shanghai and Hangzhou around 3 to 10 degrees with rain. Buildings south of the Yangtze usually have no central heating, so 8 degrees indoors is normal and a warm layer matters more than a thick coat.
Related reading
Chunyun is the harder of China's two travel peaks. The other one, the October National Day holiday, is shorter and easier to plan around, and it is worth comparing the two before fixing your dates for the year.
Compiled from China Railway 12306 ticketing guidance on the 15-day presale window, service hours and foreign-passport verification, the State Council notice on 2026 public holiday arrangements (issued 4 November 2025), published 2027 holiday calendar projections from September 2026, and official 2025 chunyun passenger figures, cross-checked 30 September 2026. Chunyun windows, presale rules, service hours and peak days are set each year — the railway's own announcements and the State Council notice are the authoritative version. Nothing on this page is financial or legal advice.