ACCORDING TO A RECENT POLICY, passengers have been able to purchase tickets online 60 days in advance for travel during the Spring Festival rush, an annual phenomenon caused by people working faraway returning home for the Chinese New Year. However, a recent online survey of 1,141 people found more than 60 percent of them failed to purchase a ticket and had to resort to scalpers, whose businesses continue flourishing. Comments:

With the longer sales period, many passengers purchase the tickets in advance but change their minds later, which is a huge loophole for scalpers to exploit, as they purchase the returned tickets and then resell them at higher prices. A scalper told our reporter that they could harvest more than 1,000 yuan ($161) every day in this way.

Xinhua News Agency, Jan 20