Travel for Going Home

The Spring Festival witnesses the largest movements of Chinese people every year, which lasts for about 40 days and involves about two billion people. Students and workers who left their hometowns for study and work in another city start to return home when it’s close to the Spring Festival. Chinese people have a tradition of reuniting with their families on Spring Festival. Despite the long and tough journey, they were still looking forward to the reunion with their families.

The 2016 Spring Festival travel rush was met with some difficulties. According to Chinadaily.com, more than 100,000 passengers were stranded at Guangzhou Railway Station after rare snow in central and eastern Chinese provinces delayed train services. Many travelers were shocked by the train delays and kept waiting anxiously outside the station for hours. The entrance square of the station was jammed by people who were thirsty to go home. Fortunately, there was no chaos. With the efforts of the police and related staff, travelers queued to enter the station and finally got on the train bound for their homes.

One of my friends, YOU, told me about his experience of taking a tough journey from Guangzhou to his hometown, Zhengzhou, Henan Province. YOU went home every winter holiday. However, he always had trouble buying the tickets. As the tickets were sold one or two months in advance, people who planned to go home tried to buy tickets by every possible means. During the Spring Festival travel rush, some people even fail to buy a ticket for standing room! A few days before the 2015 Spring Festival, YOU decided to go home. But he was too late to make the decision, as he could only choose to buy a ticket for standing room. So in order to get through the 17-hour journey, he bought a little chair to make himself a bit more comfortable. Unfortunately, it proved to be useless. The aisle, the smoking room and any room which could be used to stand were all crowded with people. If you want to go to the toilet, you had to make efforts to pass through the crowds and wake up the sleepers sitting in front of the toilet door. YOU finally found a space to sit down and tried to take a nap. But after a few minutes, he was woken up by the passing people continuously, leaving no time to fall asleep. Definitely, he hated the train during the peak time. “But thinking that it takes you home, you’ll be grateful.” He said. He also talked about the uncivilized behavior of people on the train. “It bothers you and you feel angry and sad, but you have to tolerate it. It could not be changed at the present but it will get better in the future.” YOU told me his feelings. At dawn, the train reached Zhengzhou. YOU and other passengers got off the train and went back to their homes happily.

Sleeping travelers on the train

Every year, birds migrate from north to south because there is more sunshine and water. Similarly, workers from Western and Northwestern China move to Eastern and Southeastern China for more opportunities and resources. The imbalance of China’s economy was the main cause of the migration of workers. Unlike birds, they return home at a specific time. Once in a year, getting over the difficulties, with harvest and pride, they reunite with their families. And they could not be happier than at this moment.