2 billion trips during Chinese Spring Festival
More than 2 billion trips are expected to be taken by train, air, sea or road in China from 3 February till 14 March during this year’s Spring Festival travel peak, according to China Daily. A staggering number considering that China’s total population is currently estimated at 1.3 billion.
This year the Chinese Spring Festival, also know as Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, officially starts on 18 February (Gregorian calendar) and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the new Chinese year.
Still a month away, many have already started the journey home to their families. Those travelling by train have welcomed The Ministry of Railway’s decision to dispense with the usual 15-20% fare hike, which in previous years was enforced in order to alleviate the demand on transport during the Spring Festival.
The Spring Festival is a public holiday not just in China but also in countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. The Chinese get a total of 7 days off work, 1 - 7 January (Chinese calendar), however complaints have been raised against the official decision not to include New Year’s Eve (17 February, Gregorian calendar) in the public holidays. New Year’s Eve is considered 
to be the most important event in the Spring Festival, when families get together for a celebratory dinner.
On New Year’s day unmarried members of the family, usually children, are presented with the traditional red, money envelopes. However many adults will already have received their “red envelopes” in the form of end-of-year work bonuses.
With the Renminbi (RMB) for the first time now of higher value than the Hong Kong Dollar, many Chinese are expected to spend part of their annual bonuses on trips to Hong Kong for a little pre-Spring Festival shopping.
For those of us not lucky enough to be in China for the Spring Festival, celebrations for the Year of the Pig are also held in many other places worldwide including Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore as previously mentioned, as well as big cities such as New York, London and San Francisco.
Technorati Tags: Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, China
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