Another two billion trips

Massive waves of humanity were travelling on Friday for the Chinese New Year holiday - an annual movement of hundreds of millions of people that's much larger than the migration inspired by the Muslim hajj. China's government said it expects people will take a total of two billion journeys - including plane, train, ship and automobile trips - during the 40 days around the holiday. To avoid the travel crunch, millions of people - mostly migrant workers - began heading home weeks ago.

In Taiwan, another mass migration was kicking off on the island of 23 million people. About 7.5-million Taiwanese - or nearly one-third of the island's population - are travelling home or going on holiday in the next few days, officials said. "The spring festival is one of the most important festivals of the year, and everyone wants to get home for family reunion as early as possible," said Transport Minister Kuo Yao-chi.

Highways are expected to be so crowded that only cars taking at least three passengers will be allowed. Mobile toilets have been installed along the way for travellers caught in the snarled traffic. Taking a bathroom break on cramped trains in mainland China can also be difficult. Some savvy travellers are packing adult diapers to avoid queuing outside the often stinking toilets. Diaper sales have been soaring at supermarkets, Chinese media reported this week.

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