That average daily passenger volume of 4.4m on China's railways compares with the approximately 2.5m Muslims who descended on Mecca last month for the five-day Hajj pilgrimage, which ranks as the world's largest annual religious gathering. The Hajj, however, is by far the better known of the two migrations, thanks to its international character and the dramatic pictures it yields of white-cloaked faithful descending on the Masjid al-Haram mosque.
The Thanksgiving travel period in the US offers a more appropriate comparison, given its continental scope and similar family focus. According to the Department of Transport, an average of 11m trips of 100 miles or more are made each day over a six-day travel window in late November. Unlike in China, however, more than 90 per cent of Americans travel to visit family in the relative comfort of their cars.
Last year's Chinese spring rush, which climaxed in early February, shed some of its previous anonymity when snowstorms paralysed the country's rail network and trapped hundreds of thousands of workers at the main railway station in Guangzhou, capital of the southern Guangdong province. The station is a main funnel point for migrants travelling in and out of the Pearl River delta manufacturing region. The Hajj-like spectacle of desperate crowds trying to push their way into the station became international news. That only one person died in the crush was a miracle.