(Yicai Global) Jan. 10 -- China has sold 200 million railway tickets ahead of the Spring Festival peak traveling period known as the Chunyun, which runs from Jan. 21 to March 1.

China Railway Corporation's daily ticket sales surged 16.6 percent annually to 13.3 million for the period Dec. 23 to Jan. 6, state-backed news outlet The Paper reported, adding that 83.9 percent of purchases were made on the Beijing-based firm's 12306 mobile app.

Chinese people are expected to make close to a total of three billion trips over the Chinese New Year period, which is traditionally a time when families across the country get together to see in the new lunar year. The figure is 0.6 percent higher than last year's holiday period when train trips went up 8.3 percent to 413 million. Air travel surged 12 percent last year to 73 million flights and boat trips were largely unchanged at 43 million.  

Passengers can buy tickets for Chunyun rail travel 30 days in advance online or 28 days by buying in person. This year's Chinese New Year holiday runs from Feb. 4 to Feb. 10. 

Editor: William Clegg