Feng Xianzhen from Guigang, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, along with her husband, fulfilled their promise to their children by driving a new energy vehicle on Sunday back home for a Spring Festival reunion.

The vehicle gradually slowed down and turned into the familiar Kangzhou South Integrated Energy Station along the national highway G321.

The bright red tents at the station, which provide services like free charging, refueling, and food for drivers, were more like a replay button, reminding Feng of driving a motorcycle back home eight years ago.

Back then, Feng, 38, and her husband were part of the so-called motorcycle army during the Spring Festival travel rush, traveling with a motorcycle, luggage, and their four-year-old son, whose face was flushed from the cold.

"With the luggage strapped to the back seat and the child sandwiched between my husband, we were exposed to the cold wind for 10 hours, leaving our hands and feet numb," Feng said.

From 2015 to 2020, Feng and her husband worked in a factory in Foshan, Guangdong province, and would ride a motorcycle back to their hometown before the Spring Festival.

With the arrival of their second child, Feng and her husband considered buying a car, which would make the journey of returning home for the Spring Festival no longer such a hardship.

"We used to worry about the kids getting cold on the motorcycle, but now we have the electric car with air conditioning. Besides, we can recharge the car, and even take the elderly on trips with us," Feng said.

Feng's journey of driving a vehicle back home reflects a profound change in the way people travel during the Spring Festival rush, considered one of the largest migrations across the country.

In recent years, the number of people returning home by motorcycle during the travel rush has been decreasing, expected to drop to around 10,000 by 2026, reaching a historical low, according to China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec.

"In the past, traveling was more like going to battle. Now, we can recharge and rest along the way, enjoy free car wash services, and have the convenience of driving anywhere we want," Feng said.

As the annual Spring Festival travel rush began on Tuesday, Sinopec launched its large-scale event for drivers by providing services at 700 energy stations in the provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The stations will offer services, such as free refueling, hot meals, snacks, and the Spring Festival gift red envelopes, to people returning home and traveling.

It marks the 14th consecutive year since 2013 that the company has conducted the event, having served over 4.93 million motorcyclists returning home and 67.83 million travelers in total.

Yuan Yuting contributed to this story.