“I want to go home” remains the most urgent call at the end of the year in China, and train tickets continue to be the biggest obstacle on the journey home. At the start of the Year of the Snake’s travel rush, the exposure of “empty trains” contrasted sharply with the difficulty of getting a ticket, sparking online complaints.
Recently, a netizen posted on Weibo that they went to Beijing South Railway Station to buy a high-speed rail ticket to Hefei before the 25th, but the ticket office said there were no tickets. However, after securing a ticket through someone else and boarding, they found only three people in the entire carriage, including themselves. Some netizens pointed out, “This is truly a blatant irony, a blatant waste,” and more suggested that during the travel rush, premium cabins should be converted into regular ones.
A responsible official from the Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Railways stated that during peak travel periods, due to high passenger demand, there remains a significant gap in railway transport capacity. Railway travel during the Spring Festival can only be adjusted according to available capacity, and it is still difficult to meet societal needs.
Spring Festival oddity: Told no tickets available, then find only 3 people on board
On January 25, Weibo user @Fulite--Fandean posted that they had gone to Beijing South Railway Station to buy a high-speed rail ticket but were told they were sold out. After much effort to get a ticket and board the train, they found only three people in the entire carriage. Angry, they questioned the Beijing South Railway Station ticket office on Weibo, “You made me beg like a dog to get a ticket, but when I got on the train, there were only three people in the whole carriage including me.”
The official Weibo account of Beijing South Railway Station responded, saying it was due to the ticket clerk’s unfamiliarity with the system, which mistakenly showed no tickets available when querying the machine. They expressed their apologies.
In stark contrast to this is the “difficulty in getting a ticket.”
Recently, a newspaper sent out six teams of reporters who conducted surveys at locations such as Hepingmen Subway in Beijing, Beijing Railway Station, Liuliqiao on the West Third Ring Road, and office buildings on the East Fourth Ring Road. Methods included door-to-door interviews and random visits, collecting a total of 203 samples. The respondents’ occupations ranged from delivery workers, construction workers, salespeople, college students, office clerks, storefront operators, security guards, to software engineers, with education levels varying from elementary school to Ph.D. The survey results showed that getting a ticket remains a challenge. Out of the 203 people, only 100 successfully purchased train tickets, mostly those with higher education. Most of those who didn’t get tickets were migrant workers from places like Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou.
Netizens complain: Many empty seats in premium cabins—why not adjust flexibly during Spring Festival?
On one hand, the Spring Festival travel rush is hectic with tickets hard to come by; on the other hand, business-class cabins on high-speed rail are often empty. Netizens have joined in the complaints and suggest flexible adjustments to avoid wasting transport capacity. But some argue that premium passengers’ consumption space should be preserved.
@Qian Wenzhong: I took a high-speed train where the business and first-class cabins were almost empty. During the Spring Festival travel rush, it’s incredibly hard for migrant workers to get tickets, and they endure so much hardship. The aforementioned situation is a huge waste during the travel rush. Can high-speed rail create some cheaper cabins to replace the premium ones during this period? Even if removable seats are used—removed during the travel rush, even if people have to sit on the floor, as long as there’s carpet and air conditioning, it’s better than many other options. Drastically reduce prices so migrant workers can share in the high-speed rail and get home earlier. Are there insurmountable technical difficulties?
@BaSongLangWang: I’ve taken high-speed rail several times, and the premium seats are often empty. Adjustments should be made promptly based on ticket bookings, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush—it’s such a waste of transport capacity.
@H-KunGe-L: Once, my friend and I were going home from Huangshan. We bought a ticket, but when we got on the train, it was packed. The adjacent carriage was completely empty, but the door was locked. Passengers couldn’t even stand there. When we asked the attendant why it wasn’t opened, he said the tickets were sold out and we couldn’t enter. What a scam by the railway ministry—there shouldn’t have been that many people getting on near the final stop.
Too crowded, college student rides solo for thousands of miles
Nowadays, driving a private car for eight or a thousand kilometers to go home for the New Year is nothing unusual. But riding a bicycle home for the holidays—especially cycling nearly 1,000 kilometers in eight days—sounds a bit unbelievable.
This seemingly “crazy” feat was accomplished by a college student. Sun Xuewei, a freshman at Chang’an University with the QQ nickname “The Story of the Mad Knight and the National Highway,” recently rode a mountain bike along National Highway 108, covering 928 kilometers from Xi’an to Chengdu to go home for the New Year.
When reporters contacted Sun Xuewei, he was attending a class reunion. His “feat” had already become a widely talked-about and celebrated story among his classmates. Sun Xuewei, with the candor and straightforwardness typical of a post-90s youth, told reporters that he did this to avoid the Spring Festival travel rush and to prove something to himself.
Speaking about the bike ride home, Sun Xuewei admitted it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Last summer, Sun Xuewei and classmates took a train to Wuxi for a trip, right during the peak summer season. “The train was too crowded. By evening, people were sleeping in the aisles, and you couldn’t even use the restroom,” he said. After returning to Xi’an, he began considering not taking the train home for the Spring Festival. Halfway through the new semester, Sun Xuewei made up his mind to ride a bicycle home for the holiday.
Actually, Sun Xuewei could be called a “bicycle enthusiast.” Long-distance cycling isn’t difficult for him. “Back in high school, I rode with a few friends and almost made it to Lhasa. For this bike trip home, I told a friend from my hometown, and he brought his bike specially to Xi’an to ride home with me.”
Sun Xuewei’s hometown is in Ziyang. From Xi’an to Ziyang, the minimum train ride is 14 hours. Sun Xuewei planned to cycle from Xi’an to Chengdu, then take transportation back to Ziyang. The 928-kilometer journey from Xi’an to Chengdu would take eight or nine days by bike, with mountainous terrain along the way.
How many kilometers per day? Where to stay?
Sun Xuewei has his own calculation method. He looked up travel guides online, used mobile navigation, and calculated that an average of 100 kilometers per day would allow him to find suitable places to stay. On longer travel days, he would set off at 8 a.m. to ensure arriving at the destination before dark. To avoid delays, he brought dry food for lunch.
For comfort, various “travel essentials” go viral online
In this massive “Chinese-style journey home,” folk wisdom-inspired “travel rush essentials” have fueled China’s unique “travel economy.” In addition to the “old four”: snacks, instant noodles, playing cards, and foldable stools, newly popular “travel rush essentials” include the “ostrich pillow” touted as essential for hard seats, the “hard seat pillow” sleep support, and the “portable folding paper stool” that turns standing tickets into seated ones—all being hyped up by netizens.
Worried about crowded trains and getting your feet stepped on? Wear spike shoes—if someone steps on you, they’ll just have to deal with it. Concerned about losing luggage? Use anti-theft devices. Want to sleep in a crowded carriage? Try the “ostrich pillow,” which looks like a large hood that fully wraps around your head and neck, covering everything except your nose and mouth—even your ears stay covered.
Even more ingenious is the “hard seat pillow,” which “turns a hard seat into a bunk bed in seconds.” The soft cushion on top of the “essential” is a head-supporting panel covered in foam. The side upper cushion supports the chest and abdomen. Sellers say this design distributes body weight support reasonably—just lean back and drift off to sleep.