Chunyun and Chinese New Year 春运与春节
Chunyun and Chinese New Year
春运与春节
While you are still ponder your new year resolutions for the new year after the holiday, your Chinese co-workers have already engaged in the annual national-wide train ticket fight for a few days. Yes, Chinese New Year is approaching, and billions of people in China are trying to buy a bus, train or flight ticket going back to their hometown for family reunion at seven-day Spring Festival.
当你还在为新一年该立什么目标而踌躇不定时，你的中国同事们早就在一年一度的全国春运抢票大战的水生火热当中了。没错！农历新年又快到了！中国上下全国人民都在为返乡过七天春节假而努力抢票着。
The entire period of Chunyun, known as Chinese New Year travel season, is 40 days, beginning from 15 days ahead the first day of Lunar New Year and to 25 days afterwards. It is a national scale ‘migration’, usually flowing from the coastal cities to different places of the country. It is seen as an epic tradition of the year to Chinese regardless of social status, a wonder of logistics in the eye of authorities of China, as well as the most enormous annual human movement in the history of mankind to the world.
春运，整个周期从农历新年第一天，也就是年初一，在此之前的15天到之后的25天，约为40天。这是一场全国规模性的迁徙，一般是从沿海城市到全国其他不同地方。 对许多中国人来说，无论是平穷富有，这是一年之中最为隆重的传统；在中国当局眼中，这是一场交通组织的奇迹；对世界而言，这是历史上每年最大规模的人类迁徙运动。
Billions of people in China spring their way home every year. On the websites of China Daily, People’s Daily, and South China Morning Post, it was stated nearly 3 billion of trips recorded in 2017 and 2018, according to the statistics collected. In 2017, 2.4 billion people went home by road, and the second most popular transportation option was by the train, i.e. 332 million, and more or less the same happened in 2018. It could be easily imagine that it is always sardine-crammed in carriages of trains and buses.
每一年，成千上亿的中国人风雨无阻地回家过年。根据中国日报，人民网和南华早报的数据显示，在2017年和2018年，运输当局分别记录了约为30亿次乘车次数。在2017年春运中，24亿人选择道路运输工具，其次有3.32亿人选择铁路运输工具。2018年春运数据和2017年持平。可以想象，在火车和汽车车厢里人满为患，乘客们都挤得像沙丁鱼似的。
To satisfy different needs of passengers and maximum the capacities of public transportation, there are mainly five kinds of tickets to be chosen, as in soft-berth, hard-berth, semi-cushioned berth, non-cushioned seat and non-seat one. Also there are folding seats available for purchase from train attendants if passengers who get non-seat tickets wish to sit during their journey.
为了满足不同乘客的需求和充分使用公共交通工具运输能力，车票一般分为五种，包括软卧、硬卧、软座、硬座和站座。购买了站座的乘客，如果在旅途中有乘坐的需要，也可向乘务员购买折叠凳子。
For all the difficulties of buying a ticket heading home, this massive human travelling movement takes place every year for one single wish – family and relative gatherings. There are some typical activities awaiting home goers, for example, paying visits to family members and relatives, a marathon of eating traditional Lunar New Year foods, drinking, chatting, laughing as well as watching a series of new year celebration TV shows and participating local festival events.
尽管春运一票难得，但求合家欢团圆，这场全国上下大型人类迁徙运动每年总上演一遍。难得有七天春节假，回老家后，当然少不了马不停蹄地参加各种春节活动。例如拜访亲戚、大吃大喝、叙旧谈天说地，还有观看一系列的贺岁电视节目和参加当地的节日庆祝活动。
With the rapid technology development, people in their 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s and even 60s also embrace the Lunar New Year celebration with different social media platforms through putting photos of feasts, activities and wishes online. It is not hard to see one’s Wechat and Wechat Moment is bombarded with hundreds of new year wishes, celebration photos and videos. Older generations would be generous to share vivid accounts of their old days in details with their friends and younger generations. Also, parents are very keen to tell how well their children do at school or how well they earn while young people have a competition of who gets more and bigger red pocket money. It seems the festival, like some of the other festivals in China, is also a competition of everything, implicitly and explicitly.
随着科技迅速发展，青少年、青年、甚至是年过60岁的，很多都会在春节期间在多个社交平台大量上载大餐照片、玩乐活动和发送贺年祝福。这不难看到，几乎每个人的微信和朋友圈上皆是充斥着无数的新年祝福、庆祝照片和视频等。老一辈的总是不吝与年轻一辈分享其年轻时代各种精彩事迹细节。为人父母的，各种晒自己孩子学校成绩多好，或者在外面多能赚钱。青少年一辈就是晒自己红包数量，红包多大。这样看来，春节也是像一些节日那样，是一场各种比赛的假期。
Supermarkets, department stores and shopping malls are already filled with Lunar New Year songs. Chunyun is getting to be in full swing as the first day of Spring Festival is on 5th February this year. It is time to welcome Spring too.
超市，百货公司和商场已经播放着贺岁歌曲了。今年农历初一是2月5号，春运也随着越演越烈，春天的脚步也越来越近了。
Editor: Kaman
编辑：卡文
References:
参考资料：
China Daily (2017, February 7). 一图看懂春运大数据：今年春运不一般. Retrieved from http://china.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-02/07/content_28124867.htm
中国日报 (2017年, 2月7). 一图看懂春运大数据：今年春运不一般. 来自 http://china.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-02/07/content_28124867.htm
China Daily (2018, March 13).
2018铁路春运收官 高铁发送旅客人数占半数以上. Retrieved from http://cn.chinadaily.com.cn/2018-03/13/content_35841185.htm
中国日报 (2018年, 3月13).
2018铁路春运收官 高铁发送旅客人数占半数以上. 来自 http://cn.chinadaily.com.cn/2018-03/13/content_35841185.htm
People’s Daily (2017, January 13). 2017春运大数据报告出炉 火车返乡人均耗费15.36小时
Retrieved from
http://it.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0113/c1009-29022236.html
人民网 (2017年, 1月13). 2017春运大数据报告出炉 火车返乡人均耗费15.36小时
来自
http://it.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0113/c1009-29022236.html
South China Morning Post (2017, January 25).
China’s massive Lunar New Year travel rush: where are they going and how?
Retrieved from
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2065264/chinas-massive-lunar-new-year-travel-rush-where-are-they-going
南华早报 (2017年, 1月25).
China’s massive Lunar New Year travel rush: where are they going and how?
来自
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2065264/chinas-massive-lunar-new-year-travel-rush-where-are-they-going
Photo from China Global Television Network
图片来自中国环球电视网
https://news.cgtn.com/news/30456a4e35637a6333566d54/share_p.html
٢٣ كانون الثاني يناير ٢٠١٩
