Chinese New Year

This year, Chinese New Year will fall on 2/7/08 which is next Thursday. This holiday period is by far the most important holiday period on the Chinese calendar. There is really nothing comparable on the American calendar. It is something along the lines of a combination of Christmas, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July.

As China's economic engines have shifted to the large coastal cities in the east, numerous migrant workers live and work there. Chinese New Year period will mean that many of these migrant workers will be traveling back to their hometowns and villages. This period of time will see the severe usage of China's infrastructure. Train and bus stations are jammed packed with people weeks in advance trying to purchase tickets for that time period. This is exacerbated by the fact that these tickets are only available at the train stations and not over the internet. There are stories where trains are so packed with people that ones who must endure long train journeys have resorted to wearing adult diapers because there is no way for them to get past the crush of people to the toilets.

This is the only time of the year for these migrant workers to make it back home to see their family and friends. It is a time where gifts are expected from these returning workers. These workers represent the best of these far-flung villages, the ones who are capable enough to land jobs in the urban areas from the menial to the white-collared. It is a time where petty crime in the cities will rise leading up to the holidays from the migrant workers who did not do so well for the year but need to live up to their family's financial expectations when they return home.

On the positive side, this is a time where people reunite with their family and friends to catch up on each other's lives.

It is funny how many of the sentiments felt at this time of the year by the Chinese is so similar to the ones felt in the US during their most important holiday season.