China heads home for the holidays

The banker

When Ni Chenyang began preparing for his Spring Festival trip home, he was uncertain whether he could find a method of transport that would allow him to arrive in time for the family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, which falls on Thursday this year.

However, having booked a flight, the 3,512 kilometer journey from Beijing to Altay prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, seems less daunting than during his student days when he took the train.

"I felt like I would be racing against the sun on my way home," the 26-year-old said. "However, thanks to the convenience of air travel, I will just about make it.

Before landing his job as an accounts clerk at a State-owned bank, Ni studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing for six years.

His limited funds meant he always traveled home to Altay by train, even though the journey took about 39 hours, including a one-night stopover in Urumqi, the regional capital, before he continued his journey on a branch line.

"It's hard to get a ticket during the Spring Festival travel rush, so I usually try to do it several days in advance," he said. "When I was in college, I had more time and therefore more options."

To avoid the crowds, he usually chose to return home before the travel rush began, but it wasn't easy to endure the journey.

"There are about 20 stops on the trip. So many people boarded the train and walked up and down with their heavy luggage that I could barely sleep at night," he said.

This year, he bought air tickets two weeks ahead of the holiday travel rush.

He has been working at the bank for two years and has taken few vacations during that time.

Ni said the Spring Festival holiday is significant because it gives him an entire week to spend with family and friends he rarely sees.

His journey will comprise four flights in total. He will fly from Beijing to Urumqi, where he will wait for one hour before changing planes and heading to Altay.

At the end of his visit, he will repeat the process in the opposite direction.

His tickets for the four flights cost 6,000 yuan in total. That's roughly twice the usual fare because airlines raise their prices during the Spring Festival travel period in response to heightened demand.

He earns about 8,000 yuan ($1,270) a month, so the air tickets cost about 80 percent of his salary in January.

"I am happy to know that my parents will be waiting for me at the end of my exhausting 10 hour trip," Ni said.

"I will be so happy to be home."

By Xin Wen