On the 14. February it will be time to enter a new cycle according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The year of the tiger will replace the year of the ox. Every year around this time a flow of travelers returning home to celebrate the Chinese New Year festivities with their families puts the country’s transportation network under big stress. This massive population movement is called “Spring Transportation” (春运).

The period of the Spring Festival (春节), as the Chinese call their new year, is the country’s most important holiday season. Since the Reform and Opening-up Policy, restrictions on population movements have been loosened and people are encouraged to undertake private business activities. Combined with the country’s uneven rate of economic development, this has led many people to look for work outside of their home province. Many students also choose to study in other provinces. For many, the Spring Festival is the only occasion to return to their place of origin.

Altogether the Spring Transportation lasts for about a month, time for everybody to go home and than back to studies or work.  All means of transport are put under strain. After the roads it is the country’s railway network that has to support the biggest load of travelers, especially for long distance journeys. China is constantly improving its railway infrastructure; but the sheer number of passengers to be handled during this period pushes it to its limits. The station master and secretary of the station of Dongguan (东莞) in Guangdong (广东) province were sacked for helping passengers to climb into full trains through the windows.

One problem recurring every year is speculation with train ticket prizes: third parties buy a lot of tickets for popular destinations and than resell them to people in need of a ticket. To fight this, a name identification system (实名制) is being tested during this year’s Spring Festival holidays. When buying a train ticket and boarding the train, one has to show its identity card. The passenger’s names and ID numbers are printed on the ticket. This system is being tested now by the railway authorities of the cities of Guangzhou (广州) and Chengdu (成都), two of the country’s busiest train hubs. The system was thus applied to the new Wuhan-Guangdong high speed train (武广高铁).

Wang Yongping (王勇平), the head of the Railway Ministry (铁道), has already said that this new system had positive effects; but hasn’t completely eradicated the problem. In some cases it produced additional uneasiness for the passengers, Wang said. Therefore it hasn’t been decided yet, if the system will be generalized or not.

Chinese sources: 铁道部称实名购票制是否推广尚无定论; 铁道部：铁路春运客流进入高峰 来势迅猛