Millions of travellers took to the roads, skies, and waters in China with the Labour Day holiday kicking in on Saturday, May 1, 2021, as vast swathes of the country embarked on their post-Covid-19 lives.

The world's second largest economy is expecting about 265 million journeys during the five-day holiday, a transport ministry official said.

Such numbers were last seen in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Long queues of passengers at train stations across the country appeared on Friday, ahead of the holiday.

Tourist sites, especially in capital Beijing, were subsequently packed with people not wearing face masks.

Day trippers, relatives, and holiday makers were out and about after the coronavirus shut down travel for a year.

China rebounding

Although China's economy has bounced back from the coronavirus-induced slowdown of 2020, consumer activity has lagged behind industrial production, which has seen a stronger rebound.

But retail sales have since surged 34.2 per cent on-year in March.

Transport official Li Huaqiang, said: "The number of people would have basically returned to levels seen in the same period in 2019."

However, there have been warnings that tourist attractions should impose restrictions on visitor numbers and have ticketing systems to control the flow of people.

Travellers will also need to register at attractions and show their "health codes".

This consist of an electronic certificate on their phones to prove they are not at risk of infecting others.

Top photo via AP & AFP