As the Spring Festival approaches, more and more family members are returning home at major high-speed rail stations in China, but the luggage they carry with them is getting less and less.
In the waiting hall of Beijing South Railway Station, passengers no longer travel in large packages. Many people pack lightly. One suitcase and a schoolbag have become standard equipment. Some men only travel with backpacks.
Xiao Xiaoxu, who returned to Qingdao with his children from Tianjin West Railway Station for the New Year this year, told a reporter from China News Service that their luggage had been sent home by express in advance. Xiao Xiaoxu said that she has become accustomed to traveling light, especially after having children, so she prefers to reduce her luggage so that she can only take care of her children on the road, making it easier for herself. "I'm still in the car now, but my luggage is already at home," she said.
On February 13, Xiao Xiaoxu and his son were at the station. The mother and son only carried a small number of backpacks. Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Mengyao
Yang Yue, a logistics operations expert at JD.com, told a reporter from China News Service that the trend of people traveling lightly and simply has become increasingly obvious in recent years. Judging from JD Logistics data, recently, the volume of personal mailing business represented by luggage and New Year goods has increased by about 190% year-on-year, and has increased by more than 30% compared with the same period before the Lunar New Year last year, and the demand growth becomes more obvious as the Spring Festival approaches.
The formation of this travel habit is inseparable from the increasing perfection of China’s express delivery network. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", China has built the world's largest mailing and delivery network with the largest number of beneficiaries. The breadth and depth of postal access in rural and border areas has been significantly improved, the number of business outlets has increased nearly 1.5 times compared with five years ago, and all border natural villages across the country have postal services. The reach of express logistics extends further and deeper, releasing the needs of more people.
Among the luggage brought home during the New Year, New Year gifts for relatives and friends account for a large proportion. Yang Yue said that many people will buy mutton from Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu before the festival. Many southerners will choose to buy cold-water fish from Chagan Lake in Jilin, and northerners will tend to try fresh fruits from the south.
He said that in the past, the cost of transporting mutton from Xinjiang to other regions was high, and the long land transportation time was not consistent with the characteristics of fresh food. Air transportation was also affected by the reduction of flights in the off-season of tourism. This year, JD Logistics started using all-cargo aircraft for transportation. The business volume of this part has increased significantly. Basically, all cargo aircraft are fully loaded every day and even supply exceeds supply.
Now, mutton from the northwest and fruits from Hainan may appear on the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner table at the same time. Behind this is the ultimate pursuit of "freshness" by cold chain preservation technology. It is also inseparable from the integrated transportation network of roads, railways, and air transport, and it is also inseparable from the accelerated application of large models in demand forecasting, intelligent dispatching, path planning and other scenarios.
In addition to going home to celebrate the New Year, many Chinese people also choose to travel to celebrate the New Year. During the Spring Festival travel under the concept of "reunion", the whole family, old and young, go out together, reducing the burden of luggage and giving rise to the express delivery service market.
Facing market demand, SF Culture and Tourism provides convenient logistics support during this Spring Festival. Currently, SF luggage delivery services have been launched simultaneously in more than 20 core tourist cities across the country, covering popular destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. As of the end of January 2026, SF Express has entered more than 500 transportation hubs, more than 300 scenic spots, covering more than 20,000 hotels, and has established cooperation with more than 30 cultural and tourism departments (bureaus) and multiple leading cultural and tourism brands.
The improvement of the express delivery service network is gradually changing the way people celebrate the New Year, and the Chinese New Year journey is becoming increasingly easier. (over)
