BEIJING — China's daily passenger trips of railways, highways, waterways, and civil aviation reached 62.12 million during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the Ministry of Transport said on Oct 8.

During the Oct 1-8 period, a total of 379 million highway passenger trips are expected, with the average daily passenger trips to reach 47.37 million, down by 30.93 percent from the same period last year.

During the holiday, the traffic flow of China's road network was at a sustained high level and remained generally stable and orderly, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, waterway passenger trips are expected to reach 7.36 million, with 920,000 passenger trips per day on average, dropping 53.28 percent year-on-year.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, toll exemption on express ways and relatively sufficient capacity on railways, more people chose to drive or travel by trains, said the Ministry.

The country's daily train trips had exceeded 10 million for eight consecutive days by Oct 7, according to the China State Railway Group Co Ltd.

China celebrates its National Day on Oct 1, and the weeklong holiday this year has been extended to Oct 8 as it overlapped with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional festival symbolizing family reunion that falls on Aug 15 on the lunar calendar.