China’s population is the largest in the world, estimated at 1.4 billion people, and the ramifications of this number constantly ripple through every part of daily life. There are always lines at every turn, transportation is crowded, and of course, there is limited personal space. Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, falls on January 23rd this year, and is a time when many Chinese return to their hometowns to be with their families and friends. During this time an impossibly large amount of people board planes, trains, busses, and boats in what is known as Chun Yun. Chun Yun is often referred to as, “the largest annual human migration in the world.” It is estimated that some 700 million Chinese people will travel making an estimated 3.1 billion trips over the 40 day travel period. Trains are running around the clock and still overcrowded. Highways have increases in volume of 20-30% during this time. And airports are packed to the brim.
If you have never seen Chun Yun, there are many ways to see this in action. For example, you can go down to your local train ticket office to see the lines that wrap around the corner. Or better yet, ask about train ticket availability, and you will probably hear, “mei you,” which translates in English to “there are none.” Yet, to really understand how crowded the trains will be during this time, imagine a packed subway at rush hour, and this is approximately the amount of standing room in a train car during Chun Yun. The trains are absolutely packed, from standing room cars all the way up to soft sleeper cars. People are sleeping on the floor, luggage and personal belongings are squeezed into every possible nook and cranny, and millions of instant noodles will be consumed as surrogate meals. Frank Yang, who has made the trip from Shanghai to his home in Anhui province twice during Chun Yun, echoed these sentiments. He says, “because there are so many people who buy standing room only tickets, they often have to sleep on newspaper laid over the floor.” This year he had a great trip home, though, because he bought a soft bed ticket compared to his hard seat ticket of the year before.
