Many were unwilling to travel home for Chinese New Year
January 23, 2012
On January 23, China celebrated the Lunar New Year, and the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. The holiday, also known as Chunjie, tends to be a time that many Chinese citizens living abroad will return home to celebrate with their families.
However, this year many were hesitant to do so, according to a survey conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs. They results showed that about 70 percent of Chinese people who live apart from their families were hesitant to return home for the New Year.
The Voice of America reports that this is due to the stress and frustration of traveling on such a major holiday, when more than 3 billion trips were anticipated for the holiday weekend. The survey also revealed that many people are nervous about going home because they are not as financially successful as they would like to be.
Chunjie is meant to be spent with family, and those who did not make it home for Monday's holiday can use phone cards to make calls to China. This way they can at least speak to their loved ones on the national holiday.