China prepares for Spring Festival travelers

 BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Train stations are instituting seasonal¹ measures on Monday to cope with large numbers of travelers during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

Starting from Monday, passengers will be able to buy train tickets up to 20 days ahead of their preferred departure time, lengthening² the amount of time from 12 days.

Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year, will begin on Feb. 10 this year.

The busiest travel period will likely span from Jan. 26 to March 6, according to the Ministry³ of Railways.

More than 224 million passengers are expected to travel via trains during the period, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent, according to the ministry.

Spring Festival is China's most important holiday of reunion, with most Chinese traveling to their hometowns to spend time with their relatives for the occasion.

1 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

2 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。