STORY: How technology empowers Spring Festival travel rush
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 16, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 21, 2025
LENGTH: 00:04:18
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of transportation during Spring Festival travel rush
2. various of passengers at Beijing South Railway Station
3. STANDUP 1 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
4. various of passengers at Beijing South Railway Station
5. STANDUP 2 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
6. various of passengers at Beijing South Railway Station
7. various of the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
8. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG TUO, Associate researcher at the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
9. various of the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
10. various of display of an English version of 12306 platform
11. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG TUO, Associate researcher at the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
12. various of foreign passengers at Beijing South Railway Station
13. various of foreign passengers at Beijing South Railway Station
14. STANDUP 3 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
15. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
16. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
17. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
18. SOUNDBITE 6 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
19. SOUNDBITE 7 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
20. SOUNDBITE 8 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
21. SOUNDBITE 9 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
22. various of driving
23. SOUNBITE 10 (Chinese): ZHI FAN, Product manager of Amap
24. various of traffic
25. SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): XUE RU, Staff member of Amap
26. various of transportation during Spring Festival travel rush

STORYLINE:

The Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, is the largest annual human migration in China. This year, it kicked off 15 days before the festival and will last for 40 days, with over 510 million passenger trips expected on China's railways alone.

STANDUP 1 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"It's my first time spending Spring Festival in China and I've never seen so many people at once. This holiday travel season, China's railways are expected to handle more than 510 million passenger trips. Beijing South Railway Station uses innovative technology to manage the rush."

Beijing South Railway Station, one of Beijing's busiest, is leveraging innovation to streamline operations. Paper tickets are a thing of the past, thanks to online booking.

STANDUP 2 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"With online booking, travelers don't need paper tickets. The app that makes it all run smoothly is 12306. This is the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center, where staff from multiple departments work together during the Spring Festival travel rush."

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG TUO, Associate researcher at the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
"Tickets for the Spring Festival travel rush went on sale from December 31, 2024, and as of 8:30 on January 16, a total of 137 million tickets for the Spring Festival travel rush had been sold, with over 90 percent of them sold online through the 12306 platform. The 12306 system faces challenges of high traffic and concurrency booking, especially during holidays. The historical peak for single-day sales was 26.95 million tickets, with a peak rate of 1,600 tickets sold per second. The pressure on the system is immense."

An English version of 12306 lets foreign passengers check schedules and buy tickets online with verified passports.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG TUO, Associate researcher at the China Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center
"Currently, self-service ticket-checking equipment at over 1,400 stations in China supports automatic reading of foreign passports, enabling passengers to use their passports for self-service ticket checking and boarding without manual verification. At other stations, semi-automated equipment has been set up at manual ticket-checking channels, allowing passengers to quickly and efficiently complete ticket-checking and enter the station."

STANDUP 3 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"7.2 billion road trips are forecast for this holiday travel season. Fortunately, smart technology will ease people's journeys."

Here at Amap's headquarters, I met Ji Xiang, who gave me a demonstration of their guiding system.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
"In Spring Festival, you can use this function. You can change to electric car navigation. This function will show you the best charging plan. For example, my hometown is Inner Mongolia. It recommends me to charge at this point so that I can have a safe journey. The route is based on the remaining power of the car, the temperature, and also the driving route. And this function is called traffic light navigation. We will predict the traffic light countdown ahead of time. For example, here is a red light, right? And it will calculate it."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"Yeah, I saw the countdown almost exactly matches."

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
"Yeah, it's the same with the reality."

SOUNDBITE 6 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"Right."

SOUNDBITE 7 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
"The navigation advised me to drive on this lane, for this lane is the fastest one."

SOUNDBITE 8 (English): ROGER LOTT, Xinhua reporter
"Yeah, that really helps you plan your lane changes in advance. It's less stressful."

SOUNDBITE 9 (English): JI XIANG, Staff member of Amap
"Did you see that? There was an emergency brake. And the navigation tells us the situation. It's protecting me all the way."

SOUNBITE 10 (Chinese): ZHI FAN, Product manager of Amap
"In addition to safety measures such as lane-level safety warnings and offline navigation, we have also launched specialized services this year, including a carpooling service and a charging guarantee plan for new energy vehicle owners. At the same time, we have collaborated with local traffic police to enhance the service efficiency during the Spring Festival travel rush."

SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): XUE RU, Staff member of Amap
"Amap's ride-sharing service efficiently matches travel needs during the Spring Festival travel rush. Car owners can share empty seats to split travel costs, while offering a new way home for travelers. It offers more accurate information matching between drivers and passengers, and optimizes the route for a more convenient journey home."

Nine billion passenger trips are expected during this year's Spring Festival travel rush period that ends on Feb. 22.

Traveling during the holiday rush might be stressful, but it will also be a convenient experience thanks to the technologies.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)