Three generations return to the metropolis to work for a better life. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 

A mother feeds her son outside the Shanghai Railway Station. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 

Gifts from family and friends make the return journey more fun. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

While Yuyuan Garden and other tourist sites are packed with visitors coming to enjoy the annual Lantern Festival, the Shanghai Municipal Transport Committee anticipates another peak travel period for people returning to the city over the next few days.

Many of the people who work in Shanghai but come from other provinces have already returned to the city after spending the New Year holiday in their hometowns. February 12 was the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar and marked the penultimate day of the official Chinese New Year Festival holiday as the three major Shanghai railway stations - Shanghai Railway Station, Shanghai South Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station - welcomed 300,000 passengers returning to the city.

Many small stores remain closed as the owners take their time to get back to the city. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 

Gifts from family and friends make the return journey more fun. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Shanghai has a non-local population of 10 million people. During the Chinese New Year holiday, many from outside the city went back to their hometowns for family reunions. Shanghai was, for many, nearly empty for days on end with vacant streets and public transport uncrowded. Because many of the outsiders work in service industries, construction or sometimes run small shops or restaurants, some locals find the New Year migration a time of inconvenience.

But over the past few days the city has been returning to normal, and traffic jams, crowded metro trains and buses are back as they used to be.

It was a busy time for trains and railway staff. A key transportation hub in east China, Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station was mostly the return base for office workers and laborers. Over the holiday period more than 10 extra "red-eye" trains arrived daily at the station with 20,000 extra passengers alighting after 11 each night.

This lad enjoys the Year of the Monkey. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 

An older man shoulders his possessions after the long trip back. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

"I have to start to work on the 14th and I came back to Shanghai one day earlier to rest for a while and prepare for work," said a young man surnamed Wang from northern China. Many older migrant workers would not be back in Shanghai until February 22 for the Lantern Festival.

The Shanghai Hongqiao Transit Hub planned for the holiday rush extending the metro working hours, and adding special-route city buses with all-night services.

Global Times
Newspaper headline: After the festival fun