millions travel for china’s lunar new year festival
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Millions travel for China’s Lunar New Year festival

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Millions travel for China’s Lunar New Year festival

People walk under lanterns displayed ahead of the Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday.
Beijing - Arab Today

Thousands of people wearing thick coats and clutching suitcases line up in freezing conditions at Beijing Railway Station in the hope of snagging a ticket home for China’s Lunar New Year.

They are among hundreds of millions of migrant workers travelling to far-flung towns and cities to see their families and celebrate the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, which falls on January 28 this year.

The demand for tickets is so high that some people spend days trying to snare seats on public transport for the annual mega migration. Qi Xi is one of the lucky ones.

Unable to nab a high-speed rail ticket to whisk him from Beijing to his hometown in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in just four hours, Qi will have to spend almost a full day on a hard, uncomfortable seat to reach his destination.

But he’s not complaining.

“My co-worker who’s from Harbin still hasn’t been able to buy a train ticket and doesn’t know how else to get home, so he might just not go back at all this year,” Qi said, chain-smoking outside the station as endless hordes of passengers carrying rucksacks and suitcases streamed past.

The holiday, also known as Spring Festival, is a time for families to gather their members for plentiful food and fireworks.

Travellers taking part in the world’s largest annual human migration must be home by Friday to usher in the new year on Saturday.

Transport officials predict that Chinese passengers will make almost three billion trips during the 40-day Lunar New Year period, including more than 2.5 billion journeys by road, the official Xinhua news agency said.

High travel volumes mean that navigating stations can be as much of a nightmare as nabbing a ticket in the first place.

Without internet access or a smartphone, 65-year-old Wang Wentai asked a more plugged-in friend to help him buy his train ticket back to Handan city in neighbouring Hebei Province.

Excited to go home after a year of washing dishes at a Korean restaurant to supplement his son’s income from a factory job, he arrived at the station two hours early — but still ended up missing his train due to the crowds.

“There were so many people in line, and I just didn’t know which line to wait in, so I wasted a lot of time,” he said.

The next available ticket was for a train that left 14 hours later.

“I can’t wait inside the station because it’s still too early, but I don’t know where else to go,” he said, standing in front of the entrance with his hands in his pockets to protect them from the sub-zero chill.

“During the trip, you sometimes look at your phone, get bored, sleep a bit, though you can’t really sleep well on the train, and just hold out until it’s over,” said a woman surnamed Qian who was about to embark on a 20-odd hour train ride to the distant southwestern province of Yunnan.

“But then, there are so many people crammed around you on the train that you can always chat to make it less boring.

source : gulfnews

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

millions travel for china’s lunar new year festival millions travel for china’s lunar new year festival

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

millions travel for china’s lunar new year festival millions travel for china’s lunar new year festival

 



GMT 19:07 2017 Wednesday ,13 September

Kuwaiti oil barrel down 82 cents to US$50.56

GMT 03:02 2017 Saturday ,11 November

Drahi retakes the reins at Altice as share price tumbles

GMT 19:46 2016 Friday ,07 October

Football: Saudis deny Australia with late equalizer

GMT 22:01 2017 Thursday ,20 April

52 ships transit Suez Canal

GMT 04:28 2016 Monday ,14 November

Fujairah seeks partnerships with all investors

GMT 15:32 2017 Saturday ,25 February

Steinmeier elected German president

GMT 09:25 2017 Sunday ,24 December

HRH Premier Prince Khalifa bin Salman leaves Thailand

GMT 13:39 2017 Sunday ,17 December

Britain must obey EU environment rules

GMT 18:55 2011 Friday ,29 April

January Jones is pregnant

GMT 10:46 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

Heroic Matuidi sinks Metz as PSG catch Monaco

GMT 20:01 2016 Monday ,26 September

Petrochemical shares weigh on Tadawul

GMT 11:33 2017 Saturday ,04 March

'Apprentice' host I won't be back

GMT 05:23 2017 Thursday ,09 February

EU to end barriers to Netflix, BBC iPlayer in 2018

GMT 19:17 2017 Saturday ,15 April

FIFA confirm the 2026 World Cup
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday