Lunar New Year 2010 – The Misery of the Long Journey Home

Shenzhen – It’s been called the largest annual human migration in the world. This year was no exception. China’s Ministry of Transport estimated travellers would make more than 2.5 billion journeys during the 40-day Spring Festival in order to celebrate the Lunar New Year at home.

The Railway Ministry expected to carry 4.7 million passengers per day. For many, the journey home is a nightmare of overcrowded transport, endless queues, delays and misery. But it is an ordeal that must be endured.

“… who wouldn’t want to be at home for the Spring Festival?” -- Yang Yi, telecoms executive

Yang was frustrated. He had been stuck at Shenzhen airport (pictured right) for 12 hours before he managed to board an 11.20 pm flight to his hometown in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.

Top: Yang (right) was stranded at the airport for about 12 hours.

It was February 11, two days before the Year of the Tiger dawned. But it was not his lucky day. He had booked himself on a 12.50 pm flight, but when he arrived at the airport about 30 minutes before the plane took off, he was not permitted to board.

“I always book this flight and arrive at the same time. But this time they told me during the Spring Festival the regulations had changed. I needed to finish the boarding procedure 90 minutes before the plane took off. But no one informed me the change,” Yang said.

He complained to the airline which gave him two options: change his flight or take a refund.

“Of course I don’t want any refund. I want to go home,” Yang said. He signed up for a 1.30 pm flight. It was delayed. Passengers were told to wait for an announcement. Yang waited at the boarding gate until 6.20 pm listening out for an announcement that never came.

When he lost patience and checked with the airline, he learned the flight had departed about an hour earlier.

“I can’t believe this! They changed the boarding gate but didn’t announce it. The manager said they posted the announcement on the desk but aren’t they supposed to broadcast such an important change too?”

Yang was boiling with anger and frustration as he sat and waited for a third flight which was also delayed but finally departed at 11.20 pm. “All the planes are delayed for hours today. Fortunately I am young and without kids. What if an old person is stranded here for 12 hours? What if I had had family and kids with me? ”

Yang, 30, works at a telecom company in Hong Kong. He chose to fly from Shenzhen, just across the border from the Special Administrative Region, because it was much cheaper.

“Travelling during the Spring Festival is always a headache. But who wouldn’t want to be at home for the Spring Festival?” Yang said.

“It’s our tradition to get together with family in the Chinese New Year,” — Gu Shuangyun, mother of an eight-year-old

Gu and her eight-year-old son also crossed into Shenzhen from Hong Kong to take a flight to Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, Gu’s hometown. Their flight was due to depart at 9 pm but the pair were still waiting for an announcement two hours later.

Gu and her son

“I have taken this flight since 1994 and it’s only been on time two to three times,” Gu said. “It’s been more than 15 years and things still don’t improve much.” She came prepared though. She brought along instant noodles for her son which she heated up for him as they waited.

She said her son was so exited to be returning to his grandmother’s home that he had been unable to eat much all day. “He was thinking of eating at grandma’s house. But we didn’t expect the flight to be delayed for so long. My family have been waiting for us at Zhangjiajie airport since 10 (o’clock) — we were supposed to arrive at 10.10 pm.”

Gu, who migrated to Hong Kong in 1997, has returned every year to her hometown for the Spring Festival.  “It’s our tradition to get together with family in the Chinese New Year,” she said.

” … this year even the scalpers don’t have tickets,” — Cai Jianli, truck driver

Cai and his wife did not plan to fly home because the RMB 940 (about US$140) plane ticket from Shenzhen to Nanchang is expensive for them. The journey on the hard sleeper train they usually take costs only RMB 150. But it is notoriously difficult to get train tickets to travel during the Spring Festival. The rail network simply cannot cope with the numbers of people wanting to travel.

Every Spring Festival, thousands of people line up outside train stations for days but often cannot get the tickets they want. Many resort to scalpers.

This year the government introduced an anti-scalping scheme in some provinces including Guangdong. The scheme requires people to show their ID cards when buying a train ticket and limited the number of tickets to three per person.

“We often pay more money to scalpers because we don’t have time to line up days for the ticket, but because of the new booking system this year even the scalpers don’t have tickets,” Cai complained. The couple decided to pay the extra to fly home for the first time in their lives.

“It’s a lot of money for us. But the Spring Festival is our only chance to get together with the family in a whole year,” Cai said.