Passengers buy tickets at Beijing Railway Station on Sunday after rail authorities started selling tickets for next year's Spring Festival travel period, which runs from Feb 4 to March 16. Wang Jing / China Daily

A new ticket sales system allows passengers to book tickets 60 days in advance for the chunyun period (the Spring Festival travel season), leading to overbooking of tickets and hoarding.

Under the new system, a couple working in Shanghai have booked 21 tickets, starting from Feb 4 to 15, eastday.com reported. But the 21 tickets they have booked so far are just insurance for them, because the real target is two tickets back to their hometown to Harbin, Heilongjiang province, just one or two days before the Spring Festival, on Feb 17 or 18. They plan to keep two tickets and return the rest.

The couple are two of many people who have hoarded tickets for the the all-important annual family reunion as passengers will no longer have to pay any charge for canceling their tickets up to 15 days before a train's departure.

The travel peak period for the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 19, will begin on Feb 4 and last until March 16.

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