The largest annual human 'migration'

My neighbour, Wendy (ohh..she is very pretty and still bachelor) work as an accountant in the International Financial Center (IFC), Guangzhou. She is from Hunan Province and traveled back to her hometown by train to celebrate the Spring Festivals holiday for 7 days. 

Okay, that is not the story. The interesting part is she need to buy her return train tickets 2 months before the journey's date as the flight tickets all sold out! And her journey from Guangzhou South Railway Station to her home sweet home is 6 hours by train and another couple of hours by road. 

That is only 6 hours. My office's cleaner who we called her Ayi (which is actually means Aunt. So sama ajelah, dulu kita pun panggil cleaner makcik. Tapi sekarang kita panggil 'Neng' ;p) traveled by train for 11 hours to Hubei Province, standing all the way (her ticket is a 'non-sitting' as the ticket with seats also sold out) and she wears the adult pampers because she will not even have a chance to go near the toilet to pee.  The train is full.

And that is also only 11 hours. My friend, Zao who went back to Beijing by normal train is lucky enough to get his seat in the new high speed train (350km/hours) which only took him 8 hours. However, 2 years before he need to suffer 20 hours inside the train... (Omg....face palm! What if he wants to....poo? Well, he still can get a bottle to pee rite? Hahahahahhaha!)

People rush at the Train Station gate to back to their hometown

World's largest annual human migration

Every year, China sets a new records for the planet's biggest annual human migration, as a quarter of the world's population heads back home to celebrate the Lunar New Year. I remember on my flight to Chongqing, the Head of Stewards in China Southern Airlines  shared with me that, every year they need to prepare for extra volume of passengers just for that particular peak season. That 2 weeks will be their busiest traveling period in the entire year as the passengers will increase 30 - 40%. 

Baidu has been tracking the Chinese trips over this period and put together in the amazing maps that I wanted to share with all of you. (Baidu is a Beijing-based technology company and the search engine of China. Note: China also blocked Google okay - other than FB, Youtube, InstaGram etc.... arghhh stress! Thanks to VPN). 

The amazing 'real-time' Spring phenomenon

Again, I will share only 8 sub point. Well, 8 is Ongggg maaa.... ;p

Main destination cities

Based on sales of the air tickets, trains and road travelers, the main destination cities are:
1) Chongqing
2) Beijing
3) Ganzhou
4) Yulin
5) Shanghai
6) Fuyang
7) Shangrao
8) Guiyang 

Korang tahu ke kat mana tempat-tempat ni? Kalau tak tahu apa lagi...google lah! Tak kena blocked kan? kih kih kih...

Busiest Railway Station Road

So I guess, this will be the most hassle area during the peak season and a MUST AVOID AREA for me. The Busiest Railway Stations are : 

1) Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station

2) Beijing West Railway Station

3) Guangzhou South Railway Station

4) Hankou Railway Station

5) Zhengzhou Railway Station

6) Hangzhou East Railway Station

7) Beijing South Railway Station

8) Wuchan Railway Station

Busiest Airport

Please don't ask me how many airlines company in China. I cannot remember. Seriously. They have the major airlines such as Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Chongqing Airlines and Shandong Airlines. Still, they have the other airlines company operated by provincial or private like the Shenzhen Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Tibet Airlines and many more (nampak macam setiap province ada 1 or 2 airlines. Ini kapal terbanggg ohoiiii bukan syarikat bas sdn bhd). So if you asked me what is the National Airlines Carrier of China, I will be saying like...emmmmm  probably Air China for the North and China Southern for the South.  hehehe.... Ok, back to the sub topic - so, they did not provide the most busiest carrier, but the busiest airports for this peak seasons are:

1) Beijing Capital International Airport

2) Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport

3) Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

4) Shanghai Pudong International Airport

5) Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport

6) Kunming Changshui International Airport

7) Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport

8) Chongqing Jiangbei Inernational Airport 

Images of most traveled routes.

Foot Note

As the Chinese have 7 - 10 days holidays, they take this opportunity to travel back home or even go for a holiday with their family. As a result, all hotels rates and holiday packages are increased double or triple price. A 3 star hotel in Hong Kong tripled their price which makes it equal to the normal rate for low season in Four Seasons Hotel! 

So, as the first tier city like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou become temporary 'abandon', I will enjoy the quiet days and nights, walking in the empty roads and feel like taking my own non-rush-and-spacious Guangzhou Metro. Fuhhhhh! 

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Hong Bao Na Lai!

 

Thanks for reading!