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He\u2019s one of the hundreds of millions expected to travel to their hometowns as part of the world\u2019s largest movement of humanity, or \u201cchunyun\u201d as it\u2019s called in China, ahead of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThings feel worse this year than last. The economy is bad and it\u2019s getting harder to make money,\u201d he said.
Liu chose a slower train to save money: a high-speed train would take just nine hours but costs more than twice as much.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he chose to make the 30-hour journey to be home for the festival, the one time of year workers across the country take breaks and spend time with their loved ones.
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\nChina\u2019s government estimates that 9.5 billion trips will be made during the 40 day-period around the festival, a record high, according to information from the National Development and Reform Commission. Some 540 million of those trips will be made via train, and 95 million by air. The rest will be on the road.<\/p>\n