The Chunyun absurdity
- By Alexandre Lesto
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China.org.cn, January 26, 2011
Tales of people stuck in trains for days, some having to stand for hours on end, of tickets being sold out in less than 15 minutes and at exorbitant prices lead one to naturally question the sanity of any endeavor involving buses and trains during Chunyun period.
The problem is fairly recent, dating from the late 1970s; a time where economic reforms offered people both the vision and opportunity for employment and more alluring lifestyles in wealthy neighboring provinces or coastal regions. In tandem, education reforms also led to an exponential rise in the number of yearly university students over the past decade. All these contributing factors have played a part in the untenable situation around New Year, when people return home to their families.
The problem is exacerbated by related issues and abuses. Scalpers, working in organized networks, buy tickets in large batches minutes after they are put on sale, selling them back for massive profits. Ticket distributing systems are often inadequate and quickly overwhelmed by the surge of callers and buyers. Crime, theft and fraud are also prevalent during this period, as overcrowded train wagons make supervision close to impossible.
Tentative measures have been taken to impose stricter policies; regulating train schedules, cracking down on the illegal sale of tickets in an attempt to instill a sense of control and safety in a system that today leaves travelers feeling frustrated, cheated or violently impatient.
They remain however short-term makeshifts for an issue demanding a wider, more comprehensive solution. Though the government has a role to play in alleviating the burden, be it through a series of small-scale improvements or more inclusive alterations, such as a renovation of the trains themselves, one could also hope and pray for the problem to just disappear, as a rise in people's level of income and standards of living could open up the aerial avenue to traveling.
Or perhaps that's wishful thinking. Either way, this Spring Festival I decided I would spend some time with my family...in Canada.
The author is a French-American, currently living and working in Beijing.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn
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