During the Spring Festival this year, the topic of "going home for the New Year and not staying at home and staying in a hotel" became popular. Netizens are fighting for this. Some people feel that going home to live in a hotel is a bit "shocking", which makes the New Year's flavor fade; Some people also feel that it is more convenient and comfortable to go home and stay in a hotel. In any case, it has become a phenomenon to go home and stay in a hotel during the Chinese New Year. According to the data of the travel platform, the booking volume of county hotels increased by more than 120% year-on-year, and the flow of tourists returning to their hometowns to visit relatives and short-distance tourism is the main consumer group of county hotels.
I was one of the people who went home to stay in the hotel for the Chinese New Year. Many years ago, I brought my wife, who was still my girlfriend at the time, home to meet my parents for the first time, and stayed in a hotel in my hometown town. Over the years, although I have lived in my family's house, I have mostly stayed in hotels. The superficial reason is, of course, that the house in my hometown is small and there is no extra room, but as a "hotel control" that often travels and travels, we do not reject staying in a hotel in our hearts, and even enjoy the atmosphere of staying in a hotel more.
Going home to live in a hotel during the Chinese New Year is first of all more worry-free. If we live at home, even if there is a ready-made room, my parents have to prepare extra bedding, toiletries, etc., and we will inevitably clean up after we leave, just for a few days, it is really not worth the effort. Hotels generally offer a buffet breakfast, and even more sumptuous during the Spring Festival, and some also offer welcome fruits and afternoon tea, so you don't have to worry about "what to eat".
The inconsistency between the living habits of young people and their elders is also a big reason for many netizens to support staying in hotels during the New Year. The New Year's holiday is seven or eight days, and there are two days before and after running on the road. Young people are certainly looking forward to going home and sleeping well for a few days to recharge their batteries after the holidays. However, the elderly in the family are still accustomed to going to bed early and waking up early, and staying in a hotel allows both parties to live according to their own routines, and also invisibly avoids some potential "cultural conflicts".
Over the years, with the change of customs, I obviously feel that the number of guests staying in the hotel for the New Year has increased. Among them, some are tourists who travel for the New Year, and they often set off on the first day of the first lunar month, which is reflected in the hotel room rate starting from the second day of the first lunar month**; There are also many guests who spend Chinese New Year's Eve in the hotel like us, just taking advantage of the time difference and staying at a more favorable **.
This year, we chose a five-star branded resort hotel in our hometown, which is a 5-minute drive from the house where my parents are now living. When we checked in, the front desk staff reminded us that if we want to have dinner at the hotel, it is best to make a reservation in advance, "especially if there are many guests on the first night of the new year". The dinner here refers to the buffet at the hotel's all-day dining restaurant, and as for the more formal Chinese restaurant, I am afraid that the seats are booked out early and will not be accepted.
We still went home to eat with our family and didn't experience the hotel buffet. However, two years ago, due to the new crown epidemic, when the small family of two people spent the New Year alone in Beijing, they once enjoyed a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in a hotel cafeteria on Chinese New Year's Eve. In fact, there are really many people who eat buffets at Chinese New Year's Eve, and I remember that the peak meal that night was full. Compared to the expensive Chinese New Year's Eve meal**, the buffet ** is usually more affordable. For small families, if the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is too complicated, it will inevitably be wasted, but if it is so-so, and there is less taste and ritual sense, the buffet may be the best of both worlds.
If you choose a hotel with complete service facilities, you can also feel the feeling of vacation. This year, we stayed in the hotel, sitting on the mountains and facing the water, in the room you can take a bath while enjoying the lake and mountains, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools, saunas, children's playground, Starbucks self-service coffee machines and other facilities, and provide services such as making tea around the stove to meet the vacation needs of different people. To be honest, to a certain extent, the "New Year" has become a very tiring thing, and the hotel can make people relax and find a piece of purity in the red tape of the New Year.
Some people are worried that there is no New Year's flavor when staying in a hotel, but in fact, with the increase in the number of guests staying in hotels, hotels are also trying to create a New Year's flavor to cater to the needs of consumers. For example, on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year this year, the hotel where we stayed prepared a lion dance to attract guests to watch and enjoy. It is inevitable that some people think that this artificial New Year's flavor is a bit "commercial", but for most modern people who live in residential communities, how much natural New Year's customs and New Year's flavor are there?
Going home and staying in a hotel during the Chinese New Year is actually the result of modern social mobility. Because we left our homeland, our hometown eventually became unfamiliar, distant, and became a childhood memory. However, even if the hometown in memory is long gone, when the wanderer returns, he always needs a place to stand, a place to rest his soul and rest for a short time. Staying in a hotel may be a little less intimate with your hometown as a child, but at the same time, it reflects the independence and maturity of adults, so that individuals and their hometowns do not disturb each other.
Many new ways to celebrate the New Year have emerged with the changes in the social structure. Some people celebrate the New Year in hotels, and some people celebrate the New Year on planes, cruise ships and other means of transportation;Some people insist on returning to their hometowns across thousands of mountains and rivers, and some people "reverse the New Year" and invite their families to the city where they have worked hard to reunite. The different ways of celebrating the New Year reflect the adaptation to modern life, and not all of them are helpless. In fact, as long as you follow your heart and find the "comfort zone" that makes you feel at ease, no matter how you celebrate the New Year, you can find the flavor of the New Year and get warmth.
*: China Youth Daily.