China’s northern capital may be all but shutting down, but here in south, railways across the Yangtze River Delta are preparing for a bumper Dragon Boat Festival travel period that also serves as a lifeline for the beleaguered tourism sector.
At time of writing, airline services between Nanjing and Beijing have been cut to just two round trips per day, as authorities grapple with the new outbreak of Covid. By way of contrast, the China Railway Shanghai Bureau is forecasting 6.2 million passenger journeys across the Yangtze River Delta and beyond during the Dragon Boat Festival.
To cope with the expected demand, some 50 new services are being put into operation, many of which presenting interesting new holiday options for those itching to get away for this year’s Festival that falls from 24-27 June.
Some 74.5 percent of journeys are expected to take place within the Yangtze River Delta, while the remainder, some 960,000 passengers journeys, will be to more far-flung locations. Peak numbers will be experienced on 25 June, for which 1.85 million passenger journeys are predicted, reports The Paper.
For us here in Nanjing, the additional services being laid on are largely to and from Shanghai Municipality; Hangzhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province; Huaibei, Ma’anshan and Wuhu in Anhui Province; and Lianyungang, Nantong, Xuzhou and Yancheng in our very own Jiangsu Province.
For those wishing to go further afield, times have been optimised for the Dragon Boat Festival sleeper services on 24 and 25 June between Shanghai and Shenzhen North (D905/D906), Shanghai Hongqiao and Guangzhou South (D935/D936 & D931/D932), and Shanghai Hongqiao and Zhuhai (D941/D942).
The specifics regarding timetabling during the holidays can be found on the China Railway website, 12306.cn, or by using the official China Railway app, 铁路12306.
In efforts to kick start the tourism sector post Covid, numerous initiatives are underway at both the local and national level. The aforementioned China Railway website has a wealth of attractively-packaged tour suggestions while the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism is running a competition seeking poetry about trips to the province’s scenic spots. The competition has a first prize of ¥30,000 and a closing date of 9 July.
For those seeking inspiration, The Nanjinger would recommend Yancheng as a springboard for a visit to the Dafeng David’s Deer National Nature Reserve. There, the tall grasses on 2,700 hectares of coastal mudflats are home to 40 percent of the world’s population of David’s Deer. The deer are unique in having four stomachs, rear-facing antlers and unusually long tails. Most oddly, David’s Deer also sport webbed hooves, evolved to avoid them sinking into the mud.
Whether your destination be Yancheng for the deer or Shanghai for a spot of hedonism, it is clear that the Yangtze River Delta is likely the best place in the world to be for the 2020 Dragon Boat Festival.
