Beijing [China], January 20: Tens of millions of Chinese people have flocked to their hometowns on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, although President Xi Jinping has expressed concern about a new wave of Covid-19 infections.
The Lunar New Year holiday this year in China lasts from January 21 to 27 (December 30 to the 6th of the Lunar New Year). This is the first Tet since 2020 where domestic travel restrictions are no longer applied, according to the South China Morning Post .
The travel period around the New Year, also known as " chun yun " (chunyun) this year begins on January 1 and lasts up to 40 days. Of which, China's Ministry of Transport estimates there are more than 2 billion trips.
The flow of people from big cities heavily affected by Covid-19 returning to their hometown is expected to increase the number of Covid-19 infections in the countryside. As of January 18, 480 million people have moved across the country since the start of the "spring fortune", a sharp increase compared to the same period last year.
At train stations in Beijing and Shanghai, throngs of passengers wait to go home for the first time in three years. Some people are defiant while others are still afraid of Covid-19 .
"I do not care anymore. Last year, I was very careful, but this year I am much braver," a woman surnamed Chen who works in Shanghai told AFP as she waited for the train to return to Wenzhou.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
