Chunyun
chunyun traditional chinese 春運 simplified chinese 春运 pinyin chūnyùn literally translated “spring transportation” also referred spring festival travel rush chunyun period period travel china extremely high traffic load around time chinese new year travel season china usually begin day new year day last around day predicted would billion passenger journey year chunyun season called largest annual human migration world rail transport experience biggest challenge period several problem emerged phenomenon also seen part asia japan vietnam south korea three main factor responsible heightened traffic load chunyun season first longheld tradition chinese people reunite family chinese new year people return home work study reunion dinner family new year eve since chinese economic reform late new economic opportunity emerged often considerable distance people hometown place special economic zone wealthy coastal region offer employment often soughtafter lifestyle consequently massive migration rural urban area course last decade reminiscent industrial revolution around world number migrant worker estimated million unofficially estimated million million chunyun season many laborer return home town second chinese education reform increased number university student often study outside hometown spring festival holiday period fall around time frame winter break among million railway passenger chunyun period million university student finally spring festival period one weeklong holiday period people republic china national day oct many people choose travel pleasure around time tourism mainland china reaching record level adding pressure transportation system factor exacerbate current problem china current intercity transportation system railway network insufficient handle number passenger reach enough place location serviced rail must rely bus transportation face problem inadequate equipment road network affected mode transportation intercity surface passenger transportation system namely railway road network chinese middleclass citizen cannot readily afford air transport international urban waterway transportation slightly affected due high demand price ticket increased period chunyun period feb – march however government imposed strict regulation inflated price railway ticket prc government announced national highway would toll free golden week result million people traveled road increase compared previous year year million people traveled via domestic airline million people traveled via railway ministry railway estimated million passenger would take train chunyun period however average daily capacity chinese railway system million shortage railway resource led many passenger pay double even triplepriced ticket scalper wait line day railway station extremely long waiting period many customer become frustrated inquiry customer always answered correctly customer offered many option begin problem found phone line save anxiety waiting line severely overloaded shenzhen estimated day worth ticket gone matter minute telephone method employed internet system present time inadequate fit demand hundred temporary train linke hundred thousand temporary bus operated period number ticket office increased selling period extended cope demand temporary booth springing batch order school factory organized distribute ticket ahead time measure however generally inadequate often tampered example chunyun period ticket office shenzhen ten telephone line time got million call per hour guangzhou area number call reached million per hour guangzhou railway group increased number telephone line ticket office chunyun period due basic nature chinese railway ticket loosely set limitation number standing ticket basically pas get crowded railway car scalper piaofanzi 票贩子 huangniu 黄牛 lit yellow bull chinese profit greatly chunyun season organization scalper emerged scalper inside sometimes intricate network work collectively make gain ticket pick ticket great number minute go sale deal around railway station inflated price significant problem also emerged illegal dealing ticket obsolete ticket modification even printing outright fake ticket using computer technology measure put place prevent fake ticket government issued many warning begun various campaign crack scalper also greater risk theft fraud chunyun season passenger supervision check luggage become stricter common belief safety railway travel undermined fact many railway car severely overcrowded bus company order gain bigger profit overwork bus driver irregular schedule overloading people every round causing higher accident rate train also face problem scheduling overcrowded network cannot ensure overall accuracy train schedule train habitually late hour time cause unease frustration passenger government taken passing legislation regulate late train make public notice apology late train mandatory passenger flow chunyun season usually imbalanced spring festival passenger usually gather developed coastal city railway interchange city beijing shanghai shenzhen guangzhou basically flow developed urban area less developed rural area passenger flow direction reversed spring festival addition passenger flow sensitive disruption bad weather roundtrip train ticket became available college student severe snow storm late january stranded many thousand migrant worker attempted get home one time people main railway station southern city guangzhou around million troop reservist drafted around country clear blocked road rail line enable people travel except existing transportation option chunyun season hot topic academic research field seeking alternative transportation possibility like nationwide ridesharing system despite initial opposition chinese ministry railway train ticket upgraded late accommodate qr code ticket thus enabling personal information stored would link ticket legal purchaser paving way real name id requirement implemented policy went effect trial basis beginning early duration chunyun period non highspeed train real name id requirement expanded city china made permanent wuhanguangzhou highspeed railway even chunyun period requirement became mandatory crh high speed train effect june expanded nearly passenger train january policy station staff rail police check rider document identity deny boarding without ticket linked id result station see large passenger flow beijing west railway station obliged set extra ticket inspection counter allow legal holder train ticket enter waiting area station area especially spring festival travel peak result requirement passenger arrive earlier station completely eradicate scalper reduce activity significantly air transportation less affected traveler worker cannot afford air transport nevertheless chunyun impact air increasing especially development lowcost carrier make people affordable air ticket roughly million passenger used air transportation method travel inside china xiamen airline example added nearly flight roster chunyun season thirty flight especially placed hong kong macau another ten flight international destination southeast asia korea crossstrait flight taiwan mainland china also permitted period regular yearround flight established prevent accident air chinese government brought strict regulation overloading plane redeye flight general administration civil aviation china caac estimate least million passenger fly chunyun period taiwan spring travel also major event majority transportation lunar new year western taiwan southbound long distance travel people travel urbanized north hometown rural south transportation eastern taiwan taiwan outlying island somewhat less convenient crossstrait flight taiwan mainland china began part three link mostly taiwanese businessmen return taiwan new year new year many local family tour throughout holiday second third day second wave mediumlong distance travel family go hometown wife near end holiday wave northbound returning travel less concentrated southbound travel second day lunar new year estimated million car island freeway th day friday holiday week million vehicle time average daily traffic volume million vietnamese new year tết main traveling season million vietnamese migrant worker urbanites seeking về quê meaning returning hometown reunite family large number people also go holiday period numerous travel agency warn traveling vietnam season tet due large number vietnamese traveling home make finding space bus plane difficult air travel demand increased percent million passenger new year festival circular migration golden week china balik kampung malaysia mudik indonesia mwh railroad cloud train march chinese internet film director hu ge made parody film phenomenon peak passenger flow challenge transport capacity chinasize travel delay chunyun test govt ability administer china chunyun begin today spring festival travel season start chunyun sina special news coverage