China's Lunar New Year travel chaos

[Anchor]

In China, the mass movement of travelers has begun as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches.

The volume of travel is so high that traffic chaos is occurring in various places.

On the highways, the traffic was so congested that some people even cooked rice in the middle of the road.

This is Kim Hyo-shin reporting from Beijing.

[Report]

On a highway near Shanghai, China.

With a surge of travelers returning home and heavy snowfall, the roads became completely blocked.

Travelers who were stuck in their cars for over 7 hours eventually had to walk off the highway.

[Chinese returning traveler: "Some cars were off. We moved slowly in the emergency lane."]

As if expecting that the traffic would be at a standstill, some travelers boiled water in the middle of the road to cook dumplings and eggs they had brought, sharing rice from their rice cookers to satisfy their hunger.

Those who chose to take the train to avoid road congestion also faced a tough journey.

The aisles of the train were so packed with standing passengers that they couldn't even go to the restroom.

[Chinese train traveler: "I can't get over there. I'm blocked by the luggage. (Let's step on the luggage. If it breaks, there's nothing we can do.) Let's go over the top."]

The Chinese authorities have designated the period until mid-next month as the special transportation period for the Lunar New Year.

During this time, a record 9 billion people are expected to travel.

The reason for the particularly high number of travelers this year is that it is the first Lunar New Year since the complete lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in China, and many have chosen to travel domestically due to the economic downturn.

Chinese authorities are encouraging domestic travel by issuing consumer discount coupons during this Lunar New Year period.

This is Kim Hyo-shin from KBS News in Beijing.