As China has optimized its pandemic management recently, the number of passenger trips are expected to dramatically surge during this year's Spring Festival travel rush compared with last year, bringing back the familiar hustle and bustle of life across the country.

About 2.1 billion passenger trips are expected to be made during the period, a year-on-year increase of 99.5 percent, Vice-Minister of Transport Xu Chengguang said at a news conference on Friday when introducing authorities' preparations for the 40-day travel rush, which begins on Saturday.

This year's travel rush will start on Saturday and end on Feb 15. The Spring Festival will fall on Jan 22, and travel usually peaks before and after the seven-day holiday.

The volume of passenger trips is expected to be around 70.3 percent of the total in 2019.