Data published by search engine Baidu shows that Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, ranked 10th nationwide in terms of passenger arrivals on Feb 21.

Shenzhen topped the list, followed by Guangzhou, Dongguan, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Shanghai.

Passengers arrived at Ningbo primarily from the provinces of Anhui (26%), Zhejiang (17%), and Henan (12%). The main cities of origin were Fuyang, Shangqiu, Taizhou, Bozhou, and Shangrao.

Data showed that more than 70 percent of the population arriving in northern cities, such as Shenyang, Qingdao, and Zhengzhou, and western cities like Chongqing and Xi'an, were coming from within the province.

However, large cities in the Yangtze River Delta region and the Pearl River Delta region saw a bigger inflow of people from other provinces.

Ningbo was the only new first-tier city to see an increase in the number migrant workers from outside the province, meaning it is more difficult for them to return to work.

Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong, received most of its migrant workers from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two first-tier cities in the same province.

This may be related to the fact that Dongguan is home to many Fortune 500 companies, and to its close connections with leading cities in the region.

According to Baidu, 57.17 percent of people in Ningbo on Feb 27 were travelers and not residents, putting it at third nationwide in terms of the proportion of travelers to residents, behind only Qingdao and Kunming.

Meanwhile, Ningbo placed 15th in terms of the number of outbound passengers during the Spring Festival travel rush a month ago.