Technology is taking the stress out of Lunar New Year travel
Across China, hundreds of millions are on the move to celebrate with family and friends, their lives made much easier thanks to modern technology
The proverb “the more things change the more they stay the same” can sound a little tenuous amid the digital revolution. How can things ever be the same? Deep-rooted cultural tradition, however, can weather change with its observance enhanced.
Nearly 400 million people are expected to travel by bullet train alone on the nation’s high-speed rail network this new year.
This has been despite the disincentives of rising costs and the ordeal of a long journey on stressed conventional rail and road systems. In the past, snowstorms have closed airports and trapped thousands at train stations while touts have fleeced migrant workers desperate to get home, and increased holiday travel on the mainland’s notoriously dangerous roads has turned what should be the happiest time of the year into tragedy for many.