Dubbed as the “world’s biggest human migration,” hundreds of millions of Chinese will be on the move for the country’s most important holiday, the Chines New Year.
The event marks the start of China’s lunar calendar and holidays lasts for over two weeks, with the official travel season stretching over a month.
The Chinese zodiac cycle has 12 different animals, and each animal year also rotates between five different element signs: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. This year the holiday falls on Jan. 28, which will begin the Year of the Fire Rooster.
The event, locally known as chunyun, is the largest human migration in the world (close to three billion trips is expected to be made this year)
Like in India, many in China require multiple trips (train, bus, jeeps) to get to their destination.
More than a quarter of a billion people are expected to travel China’s railways and around 60 million are expected to take flights.
Prepare, once again, for the largest human migration on Earth. Chinese new year.https://t.co/g1CzSlLM0S
— Nikkei Asian Review (@NAR) January 22, 2017
The millions of people traveling to celebrate the Chinese New Year is the largest human migration in the world https://t.co/7Y4rURTjue pic.twitter.com/VLcPCdse1s
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 28, 2017
So does it still make sense to travel around this time of the year?
A man from Beijing says that his 20-hour journey of more than 1,100 miles to his home village is well worth the crowds because “I get to go back just once a year.”
For several Chinese, it’s a rare occasion to meet their families and workers are typically given a week (or two) off.
And you thought it was hectic traveling at Diwali or during Christmas (in most western countries).
