After four decades, it’s end of line for iconic Guangzhou Railway Station
Migrant workers embark on last Lunar New Year journeys from station that played key role in Guangdong’s economic boom
Migrant workers are clambering aboard rickety old trains at Guangzhou Railway station for Lunar New Year journeys home for the last time, with the 43-year-old building to be transformed into a high-speed rail hub from next year.
Many are taking pictures to remember the four-storey, Soviet-style station, which has a proud place in the story of China’s economic rise and was a focal point for the waves of migrant workers it spawned.
After extensive renovations it will be reborn as a high-speed rail station, with most ordinary trains moved to the city’s new Tangxi Railway Station.
“Compared to all those skyrocketing buildings, the historic Guangzhou Railway Station is, actually, the real landmark of Guangdong for most migrant workers who once worked across the province,” said 46-year-old He Yong, who worked for a garment factory in Guangzhou last year.
“It’s the ninth year for me to go back home from the railway station for a Lunar New Year,” he said as he queued at the ticket office on the afternoon of January 25 along with three other men from Hunan province. Three hours later, after handing over about 200 yuan (US$31.60), they left with four standing-room-only tickets to Baoji in Shaanxi province.