Construction worker Liu, seated inside train K4069, felt a rush of excitement as the platform clock at Beijing West Railway Station struck 12:40 am and the whistle blew on cue. He was on board the first passenger train to depart from the Chinese capital as part of the Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, which started on Monday.

"I've been busy all year, and now I can finally visit home," Liu said."Knowing that this is the first train to depart from Beijing during chunyun makes my journey more thrilling."

The packed K4069, a temporary train service added for the holiday season to link Beijing with Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, mirrored the sheer scale of passenger movement by rail, road, air and sea on the first day of the 40-day travel rush, which will continue till March 13.

According to data collected by the Ministry of Transport, China recorded an estimated 188 million cross-regional trips on Monday, up 13 percent year-on-year. While the railways handled about 12 million trips, civil aviation authorities recorded roughly 2.19 million. The traffic was heavier on highways, as many Chinese people prefer to drive home or to holiday destinations to mark Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 17 this year.