The local administration estimated that Beijing's highways will carry 280,000 passengers Saturday and more than 300,000 Sunday, first two days of peak travel season for Chinese Lunar New Year.

Tickets for fixed train numbers have been sold and an additional 56 temporary trains were added, which include routes to Kunming, Nanning and Changchun.

People traveling by air will probably reach 120,000 while flights in and out of Beijing International Airport are expected to be about 1,000 during the two days, local civil aviation department said.

Most of the passengers are going home to celebrate the Spring Festival as a special occasion for family reunion.

For years, the nation's transportation system has been strained during the season, as tens of millions of migrant workers and other Chinese flock back home and then return two weeks later.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2005)