Spring Festival is a time for migrant workers to go home. But more and more of the mainland's 'post-80s generation' who have just started their careers say the high cost of the long journey is hard to justify.
Dong Jin, 25, from Nanjing has worked in a pharmaceutical company for two years since graduating from university. Dong says he decided to stay in Guangzhou during the Lunar New Year holidays.
'The train ticket is too expensive. My monthly salary is only about 2,000 yuan (HK$2,360). A round trip will cost me nearly half of that salary. What's more, the tickets are difficult to buy during these times when everyone is heading home.'
Although he works in thriving Guangzhou, Dong says he can't earn a good living. 'I'm embarrassed to see my family. I'd rather stay here.'
Bai Tao, 22, is a technician at a network game company in Guangzhou. He, too, chose not to go home because the trip would cost him 'a king's ransom'.
'I'm from Shandong province and my hometown has a custom that people over 18 who make their own living should give red packets to the young,' he says. 'I would need to set aside 1,500 yuan for lai see, another 1,500 yuan for gifts and cash for my parents, and about 800 yuan for the round-trip fare. It's a big expense.'