It' a very important time for our Chinese people, especially those working/studying far away from their hometown like me.
We call it "Spring Festival Transport", aka 春(Spring)运(Transport) in Chinese.
I don't know whether there's something similar in the western world, but in China, spring festival means time for home. Millions of people will travel across the big country for home. No eariler, no later, just within about one week, only once each year!
As you may imagine, the traffic system will hit a very high load. Tickets are sold out in a very short time every day. Just to get a piece of train ticket, thousands of people have to wait in a queue 24 hours beforehand, in spite of cold winter rains! And for the unchecked scalpers over the country, some people may have to pay 2,3 times higher than the original price for his ticket. I am sure many of the ifgogo.com writers have the experience of buying higher tickets in China.
If you are traveling by train, then there's something even worse! Getting a ticket is not the final rescue! Mostly, you may have to stay in a very crowded carriage, jostle each other tightly. Keep in a same pose for hours and no toilet available! That's like true nightmares, especially for female passengers. And that's why I suggest my friend to travel on air, no matter how rich the air ticket is.
The worst thing is, after a tired-through struggling and finally arrive at home, you only got two or three days to stay. After then, you have to struggle back to work/school again!
Anyway, to stay with family during spring festival is such a important custom for us. No one dares to disobey it or even to discuss about an alternative way. Though we all know it's a very low-efficiency family gathering, we all have to go with it. Personally, I will leave for Guangzhou on Jan 25 to meet my father and get back to Beijing later in Feb, that would be a very tiring trip
(Guangzhou station, photo from Chinanews)
(Photo by namelz52 – you may take a look at this blog, though all in Chinese, you may also read the photos)
I found this article from ur twitter... & a spell mistake in para 5 line 1 as "trian"
Actually, some of my mom's friends have decided to stay in shanghai during spring festival because of the horrible train transportation ...& the willing to save money during depression,u know,as the chinese economy seems to be declining...
Anyway, bon voyage^^
Oh, thanks for telling me this :)
Anyway, it's a good idea to stay outside with parents' permission :)
Actually, since there's not a western coutry having as great population as China, I think trsportation systems in those countries do not face such a pressure. However, the Christmas for western people is very similar with the Spring Festival for us. People will travel and spend that holiday with their whole families. Therefore, every year, almost all the filght ticket prices will be doubled or even higher after Dec. 10 in Canada.
Two questions:
1.Japan is even crowded than China. Why their railroad system doesn't suck?
2.If Chinese railroad ticket prices are more flexible like flight ticket prices, what will happen? You should notice that, Chinese railroad ticket prices now are unofficially flexible.
Do Japanese people need to rush home within a week yearly like us? I know little about them...
No... they do that everyday I guess.
Shinkansen works as daily use inter-city transport. And some Europe countries also have inter-city railroad systems for daily use.
Just blame the Chinese railroad system!
I only take Guang-Shen line and Jing-Jin line as acceptable modernized high-speed railroad. The others? They are just far behind the modern Chinese economic system. Let's say, Japan has Shinkansen(新幹線) since 1964. Modern Chinese economic system can't even match Japanese of 1964? I don't think so.
I won't spend a penny on Chinese railroad system except those two specific lines. I vote for China Southern Airline with my own money.
Okay, and I voted for China Southern Airline too according to your reviews! Maybe we could ask them as a sponsor? lol ...
Good English skill! Jia You!
Aw Guo...... I have enjoyed reading the ifgogo blog the past year. We have a daughter who lives and works in China (3 years). She really loves living in China, the culture and the people. We also have a Chinese student who lives with us. We feel a connection to the Chinese people.
We were very saddened last year hearing the news of the tragic earthquake. We celebrated with China during the Olympic games. And now, we too are preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year!
Our daughter emailed us about how eerily quiet the streets, buses and trains are now that many students have gone home for Chinese New Year. She compared it to an American western ghost town. She will be celebrating New Year with friends.
Our Chinese student will celebrate New Year with us and our families, showing us how to make traditional Chinese dumplings.
Mmmm-mmm!!
We wish you and all your families peace, joy, and happiness!
(And THANK YOU for this blog! Love the zoo pics too)
An American western ghost town...LOL
Anyway, I still remember my university is usually almost "empty" during the winter vacation especially in Spring Festival.
I guess your daughter may live in a city at southeastern part of China. If you go to some other cities at southwestern part of China, such as Chongqing or Chengdu, you'll find it will be more crowded in the Chinese new year. :)
Hello Jichuan,
Nice to meet you! :-)
Our daughter has been living in Beijing.
Nice to meet you too, American mom. :D
Yes, I should mention Beijing besides those cities in the southeastern part of China. Since there are thousands of people working in Beijing coming from other cities, a huge quantity of them will leave there during the holiday time.