[Those things in China] Ten years in Spring Festival travel rush witnessed the speed and warmth of China.
China Daily Online, January 30th. In ten years, anything is possible. Recently, the topic of # Ten-year Comparative Challenge # has been screened in various social media at home and abroad. From individuals to institutions, photos of the past ten years have been taken to express the memory of the old times and the sigh of the new changes. At this moment, the spectacular annual migration of China people once again begins with the arrival of Spring Festival travel rush. From 2009 to 2019, what changes and changes have taken place in China people’s way home? This issue of "Those Things in China" is also a lively event to show you the ten-year changes in Spring Festival travel rush from the perspective of foreign media.
In the early morning of February 1, passengers took the K4085 train from Shanghai to Chongqing North. This train is the first Spring Festival travel rush train from Shanghai. On the same day, Spring Festival travel rush was officially launched in 2018. Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Ting photo
In the past ten years, the scale of Spring Festival travel rush has always been staggering, China people have always been eager to reunite with their families for the New Year, and the initial intention of the China government to ensure the people’s safe return home has always been the same.
For "Spring Festival travel rush", foreign media reports are shocking almost every year, such as "the largest annual population migration in the world", "the number of passengers transported every day is more than the population of many countries" and "buying train tickets online at a rate of more than 1,000 tickets per second".
At the same time, foreign media will always mention the unremitting efforts made by the China government to ensure the passengers get home safely, and lament for this: "A series of measures have been taken to meet the passengers’ demand for tickets", "There is extraordinary skill in dealing with the super-large-scale passenger flow" and "What can’t be done in any other country" … …
The Spring Festival is of great significance to China people, and foreign media have also read out from the Chinese people’s determination to go home for the Spring Festival despite all difficulties that China people attach importance to their families and love their hometown and relatives.
During Spring Festival travel rush, the high-speed railway in China is ready to transport hundreds of millions of passengers home. Image source: screenshot of the British "Daily Mail" website
In the past ten years, traveling in Spring Festival travel rush has become more and more convenient, and "black technology" has appeared more and more. The concept of festivals in China has also changed with the development of social economy.
From "one ticket is hard to find" to "comfortable home", foreign media believe that this not only shows that China’s transportation is becoming more and more convenient, but also proves that China’s comprehensive national strength is constantly improving. Among the modes of travel, foreign media are most concerned about "China High-speed Railway". In the past 10 years, China High-speed Railway has made remarkable achievements in road network construction, scientific and technological innovation, industrialization capacity and so on, and has become the main force of Spring Festival travel rush.
Some "black technologies" appearing in Spring Festival travel rush, such as face recognition and intelligent guiding robots, have also been the focus of foreign media in recent years. According to foreign media, with the help of these high-tech means, China people’s way home is getting smoother and smoother.
Foreign media are also concerned that the change of China people’s ideological outlook is also affecting the "Spring Festival travel rush". For example, even if the passengers are trapped in the station due to bad weather, they will wait in line in an orderly manner. For another example, going home for the Spring Festival is no longer the only choice. More and more people choose to spend the Spring Festival on vacation, which has alleviated the pressure of "Spring Festival travel rush" to some extent.
Now, let’s take a look at how foreign media reported Spring Festival travel rush in detail in the past ten years.
2019: China is ready to fully cope with Spring Festival travel rush, high-speed rail operating mileage of 29,000 kilometers, and artificial intelligence.
CNN (American Cable News Network)On January 22nd, a publication entitled "The world’s largest annual population ‘ Migration ’ Is being staged in China ". According to the article, in any other country, such a large passenger flow will paralyze the local infrastructure. However, China is different from any other country, and China is well prepared to cope with these people flows. At the same time, the article points out that in order to cope with this year’s Spring Festival travel rush peak, China, which has the longest railway network in the world, opened 10 new railway lines at the end of 2018. This has expanded the operating mileage of China high-speed railway to 29,000 kilometers. In addition, China has introduced new technologies such as facial recognition software and ticket-free travel to ease the congestion at railway stations.
One of the two major communication agencies in Japan.Japan current affairs news agencyOn January 22nd, it was reported that the railway police in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, activated the patrol robots "Tank" and "Wolf Warriors" equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) before the Spring Festival travel rush peak.
2018: Reverse Spring Festival travel rush, train reservation service, and science and technology.
Singapore Straits Times websiteOn February 10th, 2018, it was reported that according to a recently released report, more China families chose to spend the Spring Festival holiday in domestic resorts or overseas tourist destinations, while young people working in big cities are now more inclined to invite their parents to their family reunion. Traditionally, people go back to their hometown from where they work or study to celebrate the Spring Festival. The Straits Times also interviewed Zoey, a passenger who returned to his hometown in Jiangxi from Beijing. Before the opening of the high-speed rail, it took Zoey 11 hours to go home by train, but now it only takes 6 hours. According to the report, in the past, China people’s favorite food for long-distance travel by train was instant noodles, but now Zoey can order food online, and the ordered food can be sent to the train from the designated station. In addition to solving the problem of eating, Zoey also downloaded several movies from the Internet in advance. "I will be home after watching the movies." The report pointed out that in addition to trains, planes and self-driving, Spring Festival travel rush carpooling introduced by Didi and other companies has been accepted by more and more people.
Singapore Lianhe ZaobaoAccording to the website, this year’s China Spring Festival travel rush adopted a lot of high-tech means, such as self-service face brushing machine, portrait recognition police glasses, virtual reality panoramic navigation and intelligent robots. And these high technologies, which are concentrated in this Spring Festival travel rush appearance, have made Spring Festival travel rush, China, which has always been famous for its massive population movement, quite scientific and technological. In the railway stations of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities where people gather, the self-service face-brushing machine has eased the situation of long queues for security inspection in previous years and made passengers travel more convenient.
2017: Spring Festival travel rush’s total mileage is 8 times the distance between the earth and the sun, and the China government shows its extraordinary skills and reunites with its family.
Japan Kyodo news agencyAccording to the report, the Spring Festival in China is approaching, and the "3 billion-person migration" in China has begun, and a large number of workers and students from big cities have begun to prepare to return to their hometowns for the Spring Festival. Trains, buses and other passenger services are increasing all over China. At Guangzhou Railway Station, there are passengers who are ready to return home to reunite with their families.
CNNOn January 13th, 2017, it was reported that during the "Spring Festival travel rush" period, China people bought train tickets online at a rate of more than 1,000 tickets per second, in order to return home to reunite with their families and spend the China Lunar New Year. But it was also during the period of Spring Festival travel rush that countless people rushed home, and China’s extraordinary ability to cope with the super-large-scale passenger flow was really revealed. During Spring Festival travel rush in 2017, it is estimated that the number of passengers sent by China will reach 2.978 billion, including 2.52 billion by road, 356 million by railway, 58.3 million by civil aviation and 43.5 million by water. Last year, the total mileage of Spring Festival travel rush reached 1.2 billion kilometers, equivalent to eight times the distance between the earth and the sun. China said that the total number of tourists sent by Spring Festival travel rush this year will increase by 2.2% compared with last year, which has reached a new high almost every year in the past 10 years.
2016: The weather is not beautiful, 100,000 people are stranded in Guangzhou Railway Station, and passengers are orderly.
Sputnik news agency & radio Spanish websiteAccording to the report, in 2016, the one-week Spring Festival holiday began on February 7. In the southern city of Guangzhou, 100,000 people were stranded at Guangzhou Railway Station on February 1st because of the late train due to bad weather.
The New York Times website, USAIt is said that this year, the snow and ice in central China caused the "Spring Festival travel rush" not to start smoothly. At the railway station in the southern city of Guangzhou, China, a large number of passengers waited all night, but the photos showed that they were orderly.
2015: The world’s largest mobility, driving home for the New Year, and going home for a reunion dinner.
according toFinancial Times websiteOn February 17th, 2015, it was reported that the largest annual migration in the world has sent hundreds of millions of China people back to their hometowns to celebrate the Spring Festival. However, more and more migrant workers choose to drive home for the most important reunion dinner of the year. This phenomenon is another example that China has the largest automobile market in the world. Spring Festival is the most important festival in China lunar calendar. At this time of year, more than 200 million people who go out to work will leave the factories and cities where they work and return to their hometowns. In the past, people who went out to work would squeeze the train back to their hometown after trying to buy train tickets.
On February 5, 2015,Qatar Al Jazeera English websiteA set of pictures of Spring Festival travel rush shows the scale of "Spring Festival travel rush" in China.
2014: Big Data, the largest periodic population migration in the world, and buying train tickets are like fighting.
American Time WeeklyOn January 28th, 2014, it was reported that Baidu, a search engine in China, launched the "Baidu Migrate" service during the Spring Festival, which showed the trajectory and characteristics of population migration in China before and after the Spring Festival in a visual way. China officials predict that there will be 3.6 billion trips in Spring Festival travel rush this year alone.
Fight for a train ticket to go home for the Spring Festival,British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)On January 27th, it was said that Spring Festival travel rush, China is the largest human migration activity in the world, and the passenger flow during the Spring Festival is expected to reach 3.6 billion. Railways are still the main means of transportation for most people in China, and it is not easy to buy train tickets to go home for the Spring Festival. For many people, going home for the New Year is a mixed experience of joy and pain. Due to the limited transportation capacity and so many people traveling, buying a train ticket is like fighting a war. Jia Wubin, a 43-year-old construction worker, waited for several hours at the railway station, but he still couldn’t get a ticket. He had to stand on the train for 17 hours and finally returned to his hometown in Shanxi to reunite with his 19-year-old son and 70-year-old father. Jia said that although it was hard, it was all worth it. "This is a time for family reunion. I have to go home, no matter how difficult it is."
2013: The passenger flow is close to 3.5 billion passengers, and they have to go home no matter how difficult it is. Passengers DIY makes the journey more comfortable.
British "Guardian" websiteAccording to the report, during the Spring Festival, there will be many discomforts on the journey home due to the large number of people, but people will still travel long distances to go home. This is because "the most important thing is to be with your family" and "family always comes first" when you say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. In order to make the journey more comfortable, people also frequently resort to strange tricks. For example, a passenger designed a "sleep aid artifact" by himself, which can support the head, thus reducing the pressure on the cervical spine when sitting and sleeping.
CNNA video about China Spring Festival travel rush was posted on YouTube, saying that China people tried their best to go home during the Spring Festival because they were eager to reunite with their loved ones.
2012: Nearly 6 million passengers are sent every day, high-speed rail makes travel more convenient, and the train booking system is overloaded.
Times of India websiteOn January 6th, 2012, it was reported that the number of passengers sent by China Railway exceeded that of India’s most densely populated state — — The population of Uttar Pradesh. During the Spring Festival, China sent an average of 5.88 million passengers every day, which far exceeded the national population of Norway, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Agence France-PresseAccording to the report, the newly-built high-speed rail line in China has a maximum detection speed of 500 kilometers per hour, which provides convenience for people to travel, and the opening of the online train ticket booking system is also intended to make it easier for people to buy tickets. However, due to the great increase in the demand for train tickets during Spring Festival travel rush, the online booking system can’t meet everyone’s needs, and some migrant workers have to queue up for hours or even days to buy tickets. Gui Yurong, a 43-year-old clothing business in Beijing, said it took her 10 days to get a ticket back to her hometown of Jixi, Heilongjiang. It takes her 22 hours to get home. "I only go home once a year. I bring clothes, pants and scarves to my classmates and relatives." She pointed to several boxes full of gifts and said.
2011: One of the wonders of mankind, the traffic conditions are generally smooth, and we have a reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve.
American Atlantic MonthlyChina is welcoming the Year of the Rabbit, and "the largest domestic migration in the world" will start. "Spring Festival travel rush" is one of the wonders of mankind, which makes people wonder and at the same time raises their awe.
APOn January 30th, 2011, it was reported that the world’s largest annual human migration was being staged in China, and China transportation officials said that the traffic situation in Spring Festival travel rush was generally smooth so far. For many people, this is their only chance to visit relatives in their hometown all year round. The busiest transportation day will be the next two days. During these two days, millions of people will take cars, boats, planes and trains and go back to have a reunion dinner with their families on New Year’s Eve.
2010: passenger flow exceeds 2.5 billion, online ticket sales, and new high-speed rail lines are opened.
BBC Chinese websiteSpring Festival travel rush’s national passenger traffic this year is expected to reach 2.54 billion passengers, an increase of nearly 8% year-on-year. The railway and civil aviation departments said that they had increased the number of trains and flights to cope with the huge passenger flow during Spring Festival travel rush. The railway department, which bears the heaviest task in Spring Festival travel rush, has also taken a series of new measures. In order to meet the needs of train passengers and crack down on ticket reselling, the railway department has previously introduced a real-name ticket purchase system, requiring passengers to purchase tickets with ID cards. In addition, the railway department also sold the tickets in full online, and announced the 24-hour complaint telephone number during Spring Festival travel rush.
The New York TimesOn February 12, 2010, it was reported that the largest annual population migration in the world — — China "Spring Festival travel rush" — — It’s on This year, thanks to a newly opened high-speed railway line, China people’s way home has become smoother, and they can go home as soon as possible to celebrate the New Year with their relatives.