Travellers in Beijing heading to the railway station to make their way back to their hometowns for Chinese New Year celebrations.
A 30-seater cafe along Liangma River, which usually draws customers from the surrounding office and residential buildings and foreign embassies, sold just two beverages on the morning of Feb 6. The world’s largest annual human migration, China’s yearly Chinese New Year travel rush, called chunyun, is expected to break records in 2024.
Baker Gao Yuan, 29, is “really excited” to return home to Karamay city in Xinjiang, an autonomous region in north-western China. Ms Li, the waitress from Beijing, is looking forward most to time off work and a day trip to neighbouring Tianjin city, about a 1½-hour drive from the capital city, to set off firecrackers with her family.“Without firecrackers, it really does not feel like Chinese New Year,” she said.