Spring Festival travel rush

The first day of the Spring Festival travel rush, on Jan 26, saw 800,000 passengers traveling home by air, 5 million by train and about 80 million on highways and by water.

But behind every ticket bought, this annual exodus from city to country represents the perfect image of today's modern China, says an article in the People's Daily.

This massive social mobility today represents growing opportunity.

While creating huge wealth for the country's growing cities, the country's estimated 250 million migrant workers have also accumulated great fortune for rural areas.

Tens of millions of graduates have also experienced a different life at universities and schools across the country.

But modern China also presents new conflicts and pressures, from cultural integration and social management, with travel during the Spring Festival representing something very symbolic.

Despite the massive progress made economically, simply getting a travel ticket home remains a challenge.

We have all read and heard of the reasons given — the transport network is still being built, it is still not as efficient as it will be, transport authorities suggesting they need more funds to develop the systems.

To expand China's transport system, transportation departments have made substantial efforts during the past decade — but no matter how fast the growth was, it would never satisfy the huge demand during these travel rushes.

Think too, that if authorities did invest in the transport capacity required during such periods, it would be largely idle most of the year.

Online booking systems, toll-free highways, and the like, are helpful — but at these times of year, transport systems will always struggle to cope with demand.

Despite the public complaints and anxieties, China's transportation system is improving and moving forward at high speed.

Let's just accept that the Spring Festival travel rush is a happy but arduous journey.