China’s railways carried 54.5m passengers over the busy National Day holiday period between 1-7 October, according to the Ministry of Railway. A total of 284 trains were added on 7 October as millions of people made their way home or to their place of work.

Prior to the start of the holidays, the Ministry of Transport predicted that 488m journeys would be made on the roads between 1-8 October, up 6.8 per cent over the same period last year.

This year’s holiday was extended by one day to accommodate the Mid-Autumn festival, which fell during this period.