Almost everybody returning home for Spring Festival can share some bitter experiences as they travel.
Zhang Li, a woman from Anhui Province, who works in a Beijing plant, always worries about buying train tickets as Spring Festival approaches. Last year, to get a ticket, she waited in line for a whole morning at the railway station. The seemingly endless line moved rather slowly, and, after a few hours, she wanted to go to the bathroom,but she had to stay out of fear her efforts would go down the drain. When she finally got her ticket, she rushed to the lady's room. She said to one of her friends, after she had returned to work, "Sometimes, when I think of the difficulties, I really wantto give up my plans to return home. But I cannot bear the loneliness while others celebrate the lunar New Year happily with their families. So, I have to join the ranks of ticket buyers."
Mi Yinglan, a young woman from Hunan Province who works in Shenzhen, always gets a headache when she thinks about traveling by
train. A few days before the 2006 Spring Festival, she was almost flattened on a crowded train. Standing in the doorway, she was almost lifted off the floor, with her feet dangling, and she hated the heat and foul-smelling air. It took her two days of good rest at home before she recovered from fatigue. "I will never take a train," she said. "I'll buy a ticket for a long-distance bus sleeper. Although it is more expensive, it will be much more comfortable."
