Spring Holiday

I'm not sure if all of you know this, but this year the Chinese New Year is on February 7th. For the New Year, China shuts down for a week called the Spring Holiday and most people go home and spend that time with their families.



Most companies here are shut down from February 5 through the 12th, but due to travel times most people will take additional time of before or after that holiday. Apparently the time from Friday, February 2nd until Sunday February 17th are the time that most people will be traveling and enjoying their holiday.

But, the fun of it is that the travelling has started already. Because of the mountainous countryside trains take a long time, buses even longer, and most people still don't have the luxury to fly back close to their home town. Some people are spending 3 days just to travel home.

When I go to work in the morning, at least this week, there have been over 100 people lined up outside at the bus terminal, and it looks like they are waiting just to purchase tickets. The train station has actually set up tents and lines for people to wait in, and it's always full of people waiting.

Makes me think twice about all of the complaining that I used to do when traveling home during the Thanksgiving rush.....