(JIANG KEHONG)

Three migrant workers from central China's Henan Province get ready to head home on a nearly 1,500-km trip for the Spring Festival holiday aboard a chartered train from Fuzhou, capital of southern Fujian Province.

According to China's Ministry of Transport, home-bound travelers and tourists are expected to make 2.54 billion journeys before and after the Spring Festival, which falls on February 14 this year. The festival, also known as the Lunar New Year, is the most important occasion for Chinese family reunions around the world. For most of China's more than 250 million farmers-turned-workers in cities, it is also their only opportunity during the year to visit family members still living in rural areas.