Railway stations and airports across China have seen the biggest peak in travellers in advance of the Lunar New Year as millions of people return home to spend the holidays with their families in an annual migration that is expected to be a record.

The Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, begins on Wednesday.

During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the holidays, some nine billion interprovincial passenger trips, on all forms of transport combined, are expected to be made, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Train and air travel are expected to “hit record highs” during this year’s migration, Xinhua said.

The Ministry of Transport said it expects 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during the period.

According to China Railways, which has added thousands of trains to meet demand, Saturday was “the main peak” at stations before the holidays.

It said it used data from ticket sales and waiting lists to predict and regulate supply.

With many people working and studying in provinces other than theirs because of better opportunities, there is a large population migration around the New Year holiday.

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Many factories have already closed for the holiday, with such workers traditionally returning home earlier than the rest of the population.