春运 Holiday Travel

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This peak travel period noticeably got underway here this past week. Less cars in the main business district and more cars heading out of the city in all directions. I was out on one of the ring roads yesterday and it was clogged at a non-peak time. Stop and go at 10 a.m. -- and that was heading South.

 

Kunming gets an influx of travelers, most of them domestic, who are heading to other points within Yunnan. Seems that more and more Kunming is just a point where people want to spend a night and make onward connections. As the traffic gets worse, the prices get higher, and the air quality declines, I suppose that's understandable.

 

Beijing and the really large cities are already experiencing more of a crush. Train and bus stations and airports are crowded.

 

If I had to make a list of the Top China Phenomena, both 春晚 (The New Year's Eve TV Gala) and 春运 (Spring Holiday Travel) would be near the top. They are both hugely important to the Mainland psyche.

 

http://english.cntv.cn/program/china24/20140117/100423.shtml

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20140117/103315.shtml