The Spring Festival transport season in China is known as the largest annual migration on the planet as people in big cities return to their hometowns for the holiday. According to a special report aired by CCTV last week, over 2.91 billion trips will be made during the 40-day travel rush that began Jan. 24.

Online ticket-booking statistics show that the top three cities with the most departures are Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing during the pre-festival period.

Fiona Yu, a 25-year-old Shenzhen resident originally from Daqing in Heilongjiang Province, has made a detailed plan for her travel route back to her hometown, although she says the itinerary is a bit time-consuming and inconvenient.

Yu said she will board a three-hour train from Shenzhen to Xiamen on Feb. 6 and stay in Xiamen for one night. On the next day she will take a five-hour flight to Harbin before getting on a bus to travel from Harbin to Daqing, which will take two hours.

“Traveling like this costs me about 1,700 yuan (US$262) in total, saving me over 1,000 yuan because a direct flight from Shenzhen to Harbin cost nearly 3,000 yuan for Feb. 6,” Yu said.

Data from the national railway service center showed the peak travel time nationwide during the pre-festival period will probably be Feb. 5, two days before Lunar New Year’s Eve on Feb. 7, according to the report.

The fluctuations in demand also influences the prices of flight tickets. For instance, the airfare from Shenzhen to Chengdu hovers around 1,500 yuan before Feb. 6 but drops to about 600 yuan after Feb. 7, according to Ctrip.com. The airfare from Chengdu to Shenzhen before Feb. 6 costs around 600 yuan.

James Elliot, a Shenzhen-based P.E. teacher from Australia who has lived in China for over two decades, said staying in big cities is a smart option during the travel rush as most people go back to their hometowns, leaving cities empty.

“We have been in Shenzhen and Shanghai when they were like ghost towns,” he said, adding that Hong Kong and close-by Asian countries are great choices for holiday trips. Elliot said people who are planning a trip, especially those with kids, should travel wisely and it’s safer and more time-saving to reserve a car before arriving in a new place.

He also warned about pickpockets during the travel rush, adding that people should lock their luggage. “Some people label their baggage in Chinese so thieves don’t know they belong to a foreigner,” he said.