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According to official data, during the typically bustling summer season, rail travel in China reached a pandemic low and an eight-year low as new virus outbreaks limited mobility and undermined visitor confidence.

According to figures from China Railway, there were 440 million passenger trips made on the country's rail system between July 1 and August 31, the fewest since 2014.

It decreased by 4.8% from the 462 million travels recorded during the same time period in 2021 and by 3.5% from the 456 million trips recorded in 2020, when the Covid-19 outbreak was at its worst.

As families and college students go to scenic locations and make their way home from school, the summer is one of China's busiest transport seasons. But due to a viral comeback, Covid limitations that were enforced in numerous places over the past few months have interfered with vacation plans.

Early in August, the southern Chinese resort city of Sanya implemented a lockdown and limited travel options in an effort to contain a Covid-19 epidemic that appeared while about 80,000 tourists were enjoying the beaches there during the height of the summer season.