China’s Annual New Year Migration

December 31, 2012

We visited China and traveled during one of China’s national holidays in 2008.

My sister and her youngest daughter went with us—both are evangelical Christians and mentioned they didn’t believe in China’s one-child policy. I heard this more than once but after they arrived in China and experienced that migration, both stopped preaching about the one-child policy.

It was so crowded, it was as if we were swimming through an ocean of people.

That’s when I decided that my next trip to China will not be during any of China’s national holidays.

In fact, to deal with this migration, inhabitat.com says, “China has released a massive rail development program, which will expand the high-speed rail service to 42 more high-speed lines by 2012.”

This Al Jazeera report is about China’s annual New Year Migration of 2010. For readers who haven’t been to China, this may be your only chance to experience a taste of what it is like to live in a country with more than 1.3 billion people.

Tony Birtley of Al Jazeera, reports from a train heading south from Beijing to Hebei province.

Birtley says, “Welcome to the Chinese New Year and to the world’s biggest annual migration.… There’s something like 2,000 people on this train and you can hardly move.”

The rail system in China barely manages to move the average 220 million people traveling home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with family. But the Chinese lunar New Year is on Sunday, February 10, 2013.  That’s when you want to avoid visiting China unless you want to experience this holiday with the  Chinese. If so, pick a city and avoid traveling.

It is possible that a passenger will have to stand for a trip of 16 to 48 hours to reach their destination.

Discover Harbin’s Winter Wonderland

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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3 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, cultural differences, expatriates, expatriots, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The New Year Migration in China

December 4, 2010

We visited China and traveled during one of China’s national holidays in 2008. 

My sister and her youngest daughter went with us. 

Both are evangelical Christians and mentioned they didn’t believe in China’s one-child policy. I heard this more than once but after they arrived in China and experienced that migration, both became quiet about the one-child policy.

It was so crowded at times, it was as if we were swimming through a thick sea of people.

After that, I said the next trip to China would not be during any of China’s national holidays.

In fact, to deal with this migration, inhabitat.com says, “China has released a massive rail development program, which will expand the high-speed rail service to 42 more high-speed lines by 2012.”

This Al Jazeera report is about China’s annual New Year Migration of 2010. For readers who haven’t been to China, this may be your only chance to experience a taste of what it is like to live in a country with more than 1.3 billion people.

Tony Birtley of Al Jazeera, reports from a train heading south from Beijing to Hebei province.

Birtley says, “Welcome to the Chinese New Year and to the world’s biggest annual migration.… There’s something like 2,000 people on this train and you can hardly move.”

The rail system in China barely managed to move the average 220 million people traveling home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with family.

It is possible that a passenger will have to stand for a trip of 16 to 48 hours to reach their destination.

______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, cultural differences, family values, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Brain Washing on Stage is Not Dirty Dancing

April 24, 2010

Gao Fangpi brought a fellow member of the Falun Gong to our house a few days before a New Year’s show. While we were sitting around the kitchen table sipping tea, the two women pitched the benefits of their group in soft voices. It was obvious that they had been trained like an Amway salesman is, but not as flashy.  

My wife and I were invited to attend the Falun Gong show in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theater. The tickets were eighty dollars each. Putting on that show in that theater must have been costly and I suspect eighty dollar tickets would not raise enough to cover the expenses.  

 My wife asked Gao Fangpi where the money came from to pay for the show, since it was on tour to several cities in Western countries in North America and Europe. Gao Fangpi admitted that the CIA subsidized the show.

See Wearing China’s Shoes http://wp.me/pN4pY-1p

 

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, politics, religion | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Spring Festival – The Year of theTiger

March 31, 2010

The Chinese New Year is important to most Chinese the world over. It is based on the lunar calendar and is known as the Spring Festival, which can be traced back more than 4,000 years, and it lasts for three days—the last day of the last lunar month and the first two days of the first lunar month. This year, the Spring Festival took place between February 14 to 16 (Gregorian Calendar).

During the Spring Festival, families paste scrolls on doors with the Chinese character ‘Fu’ (福), meaning good fortune and happiness. There are firecrackers and fireworks. All family members gather to eat. It is traditional to eat certain foods like jiaozi, dumplings, fish, spring rolls, and sticky rice balls (tangyuan).

Spring Festival Lanterna

The Chinese lunar New Year is one of eight traditional festivals in addition to several government holidays. 2010 is the year of the tiger—known by its formal name of Geng Yin, year 4707 in the lunar Chinese calendar.

Discover Chinese Yu Opera

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

1 Comment | Chinese arts and music, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, food | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse