China Prepares for Lunar New Year

CHAN:
From tiny villages to bustling cities, China is preparing for the coming New Year Festival, and the world's biggest human migration is in full swing as millions head home to see their loved ones and celebrate the incoming year of the ox.


STORY:
The Chinese New Year gives many workers their only chance of the year to return to their home provinces with gifts for the family.

Be it a traditional stall in Beijing or a modern shopping area, people have been frantically buying presents, New Years staples and food.

The image of the ox adorns posters, cut paper decorations, good luck charms and even balloons.

Meanwhile millions of migrant workers have begun jamming train stations across the country, kicking off the biggest movement of humanity in the world.

The annual rush officially started on January 11 and lasts around four weeks, with 188 million passengers expected to take to trains.

At the Beijing Railway Station, hundreds of hopeful travelers queue at windows to get their hands on a ticket. Yet only just over 15 percent of prospective travelers polled said they would choose to brave the sea of shoving travelers at sales windows, state television said.

More than 80 percent of those planning to make the trip home said they would use scalpers or "connections" to secure a ticket, the report said.

For Cao Yueyun, a 22-year-old student from rural Hunan province, around 1,000 kilometers away, queuing was the only option.

[Cao Yueyun, Student]:
"The ride is very long, so I must get a seat. I am from Hunan province in the south. I wasn't able to go home last year because of the snowstorm. I haven't been home for more than a year, I cannot wait to go. I just want to get a ticket as soon as possible."

Last year, the mass movement was disrupted by the worst winter weather in the south in decades, which left millions of passengers stranded and angry in big manufacturing provinces like Guangdong.

This year the holiday may have little meaning for millions who have gone home early after losing their jobs as factories closed down in the once-booming south. But inevitably some will not get home in time this year. With fewer jobs around in the cities, many more may not return in the New Year.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• ntdtv
• news
• china
• lunar
• new year
• chinese new year
• festival
• migration

[chesneychez]

i was wondering, normally the train ride is not short, so why are there standing passengers, how long are they going to stand in the train ?

[markohu]

a chinese friend of mine from Zhejiang provice is in China now.