Based on the Tencent migration data in 2018, the Chinese residents' intercity travel networks were constructed respectively from different time periods (annual, daily, special holidays, and the Spring Festival travel period), different travel modes (aviation, railway, and highway) and different urban agglomerations (inside and outside). Using the social network analysis method, the spatial structure characteristics of residents' intercity travel networks were explored and depicted from the perspective of "point-line-network", and the internal and external travel patterns of major urban agglomerations were summarized to reveal residents' intercity travel laws systematically and comprehensively. The results showed that: the residents' intercity travel network in 2018 presents a spatial pattern of "dense in the east and sparse in the west", forming a top-level cross-regional "diamond" network structure with high central cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Chengdu-Chongqing as the vertexes. Residents' intercity travel in the Spring Festival travel period is quite different from that in other holidays. The weighted gravity center of the residents' intercity travel is more inclined to the southwest during the Spring Festival travel period. The daily average travel scale of the Spring Festival is higher than that of other periods. There are significant differences in residents' intercity travel population scale, travel range and travel transportation network under different travel modes. The aviation intercity travel, railway intercity travel and highway intercity travel are responsible for the population gathering and dispersion of intercity travel at national level, regional level and local level, respectively. The internal and external residents' intercity travel networks of urban agglomerations respectively show a spatial pattern of "core-hinterland-periphery" and "region crossing-neighboring-locality", with obvious significant hierarchy. Affected by administrative barriers, intercity travel within an urban agglomeration is more to the capital city as the origin or destination, showing a multi-center dual-core travel pattern, while the external intercity travel of the urban agglomeration is mostly single-center single-core travel pattern. © 2022, Science Press. All right reserved.
