Tourists visit the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 1, 2015, the first day of the National Day holidays. [Photo/Xinhua]

Even with these measures, however, many people still choose to travel by road and many of the major roads will be congested. According to web portal Netease.com, traffic on many sections of the Beijing-Tibet Highway were slow on Thursday morning. In the southern province of Guangdong, it said, 45 traffic accidents have been reported on 22 highways.

At the bustling Beijing South Railway Station, the number of passengers was "way beyond expectation", according to a Xinhua reporter at the scene on Thursday morning.

While many choose to spend the holidays in the country's bustling cities, others prefer something a bit quieter.

Zhang Hongguang, a resident of Jinan City in Shandong Province, east China, went to a rural outpost not far from where he lives to "get close to nature".

"It is cheap to stay in Matao, and the locals are very kind," said Zhang. "I don't understand why people choose to waste their vacations crammed into smelly, crowded trains," Zhang said as he happily picked persimmons with his son.

Homestay accommodation only costs 100 yuan ($15.7) a night, and visitors can pick fresh fruits grown by the villagers, according to Zhang.

"Here you can truly enjoy the beauty of a vacation," he said. "You don't have to travel thousands of kilometers to get that."