China's transportation departments forecast that return trips after Spring Festival could reach a peak on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Railway says about 3.5 million passengers traveled by railway on Saturday, 500,000 more than the previous day.

The Ministry launched an emergency plan to deal with the transport rush. More than 200 special trains are kept on standby everyday during this period.

Southern China's Guangzhou railway station, a transport hub in that region, has seen nearly 90 thousand passengers on Sunday, a figure close to records of peak.

Some passengers said tickets are available before the forecast peak.

''Maybe there are not many people returning over the weekend, so it's not hard to buy a ticket.''

But in the coming week, tickets leaving Guangzhou will be sold out soon. Passengers returning to Beijing and Shanghai are also advised to book or buy tickets as early as possible.

Also on Monday, more than 20 million passengers choose to travel by road, taking coaches for their returning trips.