230 million Chinese hitting the rails for Spring Festival

In celebration of the Chinese New Year (or the Spring Festival), 230 million people are expected to ride China’s rails. This is another illustration of a society on the move. Many have moved into cities and are now traveling back to their hometowns for this important family reunion. Given China’s sheer numbers, it is no wonder China is investing so heavily into train technology. I thought it was interesting a migrant worker saying he is willing to wait 40 hours to get a cheap ticket rather pay a high price ticket on a high-speed train. (See “Faster but costly, high-speed train sparks controversy.”) One thing for sure; for many travelers, the longest journey will be in line at the train station, and not on the train itself.