Liu Zhiquan was waiting for a 30-plus hour train journey to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, some 1,242 miles (2,000 kilometers) from Beijing, where he works in construction. He’s one of the hundreds of millions expected to travel to their hometowns as part of the world’s largest movement of humanity, or “chunyun” as it’s called in China, ahead of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17.
“Things feel worse this year than last. The economy is bad and it’s getting harder to make money,” 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. 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.
