The journey home begins for millions

Yang Zhengcai

The migrant worker

Although Yang Zhencai is the father of two daughters at elementary school, he was just like a little boy and far too excited to fall asleep the night before he traveled to join his family in a village in Shanxi province.

Yang hadn't been home for a year. His train from Beijing to Linfen was scheduled to depart at 5 pm on Jan 25, but Yang and another colleague who comes from the same village arrived at the railway station at 10 am.

"Compared with sitting in the construction dormitory and killing time, I would rather sit at the railway station square and watch people going back and forth," said the 32-year-old construction worker.

They sat on their luggage, mainly clothes and quilts, and each had a sesame pancake for lunch.

Yang's journey home lasts roughly the whole day - 15 hours on a train, more than 4 hours on a long-distance bus. Then, an hour shaking along rutted tracks on a county bus is followed by a 20-minute motorbike ride to the front door.

Hoping to save money, Yang bought a regular rail ticket, rather than splashing out on a sleeper.

"The carriage is always very crowded, and sometimes it's hard to reach the toilet. So I plan to buy gifts for my parents and daughters when I arrive in our county," he said.

As the family's only breadwinner, he had transferred almost all of his money back home, except for a few hundred yuan for basic living costs. His budget for Spring Festival is his previous month's salary of about 4,000 yuan.

Even though he's only 32, people often mistake him as being in his early 40s.

"I began to work at a construction site when I was just 17. Now, I often regret that I gave up my studies so early. I won't let my daughters repeat my mistake. As long as they want to study, I will try my best to pay for them," Yang said.

He was happy that he managed to buy a ticket after queuing for just five minutes. "I queued for an entire night last year to get the same ticket. It's much better than before," said Yang.

He has been working in Beijing for six years, but every year he makes the round trip home on a regular ticket. "To tell the truth, I've never even been inside the sleeper carriage. The ticket is far more expensive than a ticket for a seat. I would rather save the money to buy clothes for my daughters," he said.

Yang plans to stay at home for about a month. "I really want to stay longer, but the whole family needs my money to live, so I have to go back to Beijing to earn more," he said.

"My biggest hope is that I can find a job nearer home where I can earn almost the same salary as in Beijing. My daughters are getting older and the family needs a man at home," he said.

Han Junhong contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at hena@chinadaily.com.cn and jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn