Often forgotten amid the crush of Chinese who travel back to their family homes for the Spring Festival holidays are those forced to work or who cannot afford the ticket.
For young Beijing waitress Chen Jing, from Hubei province, this is the fourth year in a row she has not made it home to visit her family.
'It is really my own choice. Train tickets are more expensive during the Spring Festival and that is time not spent working and earning money. I just can't justify it,' she said.
Still, there is an emotional toll for not being with one's family during the important holiday. 'As each Spring Festival passes and I cannot return home, my relations with my parents and siblings become increasingly strained,' she said forlornly. 'We used to write to each other, and they used to beg me to come home. Now we barely ever talk on the phone. Perhaps it's easier this way.'
Zhang Chunlan, on the other hand, would give anything to travel home to Harbin for the holidays. For her it's not a matter of money. Her boss is forcing her to keep his dry cleaning shop open while he takes time off to be with his family.
'I think he's being crazy forcing us to keep the store open because we won't have any business anyway,' she said.
