Nearly three billion travel to greet the Year of the Rooster

For the largest annual exodus to the world, 2.5 billion trips will be made on road; 350 million by train; "Only" 50 million will be made by air. The majority of travelers are migrant workers who leave the countryside and go to cities for work. For the New Year they return to celebrate with their family. The sign of the Rooster is auspicious because, a sign of the sun, it  wards off bad spirits.




 

Beijing (AsiaNews) - Almost three billion Chinese people will travel - by plane, train, bus and car - to celebrate the new year under the sign of the Rooster. The Eastern New Year (or "Chinese," also celebrated in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and wherever there is an ethnic Chinese communities) begins tomorrow, 28 January.

The movements are due to the fact that the New Year's Eve vigil this evening, as well as the other three days of the New Year, according to tradition are to be spent with the family. As a result rail and coach - and to a lesser extent airports - are besieged to find a place.

The journeys home for thousands of kilometers from major cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou – to interior villages, is carried out by hundreds of millions of people, and is now described as "the largest annual exodus". About 2.5 billion trips will be carried out on wheels; 350 million by train; "Only" 50 million will be made by air.

The majority of travelers are migrant workers who leave the countryside and go to cities in search of work. The New Year period is the only holiday established under labor laws.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics there are at least 277.5 million migrant workers in China. The return home is an opportunity for them to bring money, gifts for children left in the hands of grandparents, or left alone. Government figures say there are around 61 million children left behind in rural areas by their migrant parents.

The sign of the Rooster, associated with the sun, in the Chinese tradition is seen as able to ward off evil spirits. It is therefore a good omen for luck, prosperity and wealth.

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