Original title: The changes and unchanged of the Spring Festival in 2024丨From 23 million to 9 billion people! In the 70 years of the Spring Festival, how has there been a great change behind the "mobile China"?
Poster News Chief Reporter Chen Yangyang Reporter Chen Yuyin reports.
Soon after entering the lunar month, people who are running around have embarked on the journey back to their hometowns, and the major transportation routes have become unprecedentedly busy, and this situation will continue until after the return tide on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Once a year, the Spring Festival, known as "the largest periodic migration of mankind", is almost never absent.
From 1954 to 2024, the number of people traveling in the Spring Festival in China will increase from 23 million to 9 billion in 70 years. The 70 years of the Spring Festival have carried the hard work of ordinary people year after year, the difficulty of the journey and the joy of going home.
From the green train to the Fuxing, from instant noodles and pickles to high-speed rail takeaways, from all-night queuing to online ticket grabbing, from the "motorcycle army" to self-driving new energy vehicle ......Over the past 70 years, the number of travelers during the Spring Festival has increased dramatically, and the way of travel has also changed dramatically.
As many people say, the Spring Festival is like a time train, carrying the growth stories of generations of Chinese, reflecting the changes and development of Chinese society, and witnessing a steaming "mobile China".
9 billion people "broke the record" again
Peanuts, melon seeds, instant noodles, beer, drinks, mineral water, ......This Spring Festival, in the memory of Mu Hui, a "post-80s", the shouting on the green train on the way back to his hometown 20 years ago is still in his ears.
Mu Hui is a native of Weihai, Shandong, and in 2004, Mu Hui and several Shandong classmates went to Hainan to study. During his studies, he went through 5 Spring Festival trips, passed through Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Henan provinces, and witnessed many stories on the green train.
In Mu Hui's impression, before the Spring Festival, they embarked on a crowded, long, tired and exciting journey back to their hometowns together.
One year, in order to save money, Mu Hui and his classmates decided to take a ship first and then take a train back to their hometown. They first set off by ship from Haikou, encountered wind and waves, and drifted on the sea for 19 hours before finally arriving at Guangzhou Station, the largest Spring Festival transportation in China.
At that time, the square of Guangzhou Railway Station was crowded with people, and we could not see the ...... in line at a glanceMu Hui recalled that the crowd at Guangzhou Station at that time was shocking, some people carried bedding, buckets and pots and pans, some migrant workers carried a one-person-high full of woven bags, some women held a child in their arms, and one in their hands, and some people did not have time to buy food, so they squatted directly on the side of the road to eat instant noodles.
The crowd is surging, and tens of thousands of returnees in their memories are anxiously waiting, waiting to step on the green train and return to their hometown after a long absence.
After staying in Guangzhou for nearly a day, Mu Hui and his classmates successfully got on the train, stayed up on the crowded green train for more than 20 hours, and finally returned to Shandong. From Haikou to returning to hometown, the whole journey took nearly 50 hours.
In fact, the Spring Festival in Mu Hui's memory is also the epitome of the memories of countless Chinese Spring Festival.
Looking through the history of the Spring Festival, the Spring Festival can be traced back to 1954. In that year, the country for the first time clarified that the Spring Festival travel time was a month before and after the Spring Festival, and the Ministry of Railways at that time, which is now the China State Railway Group, set up a Spring Festival passenger transportation office, which was on duty day and night.
In 1954, the average daily passenger flow of China's railway Spring Festival reached 730,000, the peak day of passengers reached 900,000, and the railway Spring Festival sent 23 million passengers.
In fact, at that time, the Spring Festival passengers were mainly soldiers, students and government cadres, and most of them still lived and worked in their hometowns, and the pressure on the Spring Festival was not very great on the whole.
Behind the rapid development of the Spring Festival, it also reflects the development story of China's social and economic strides.
In the early 80s of the last century, China entered a new stage of reform and opening up, the rapid development of cities, a large number of farmers chose to leave their hometowns to work in the city, the flow of workers, students, relatives, and tourism, forming a large-scale flow of people, and the Spring Festival began to become the focus of attention of the whole society.
In 1980, the People's Republic of China used the words "Spring Festival" for the first time to report on large-scale Spring Festival passenger transport. Since then, with the further development of China's economy and the large-scale flow of population, the amount of Spring Festival transportation has increased year by year.
From 1954 to 2024, in the blink of an eye, the Spring Festival has gone through 70 years.
The reporter searched and found that in 1954, the railway Spring Festival sent 23 million passengers, in 1979, the Spring Festival exceeded 100 million passengers, in 1984, it exceeded 500 million passengers, in 1994 it exceeded 1 billion, in 2006 it exceeded 2 billion, and in 2012 it exceeded 3 billion ......In 2024, the number of Spring Festival passengers is expected to reach 9 billion, a record high.
The Spring Festival is a unique phenomenon during the transition from 'agricultural China' to 'industrial China'. Reform and opening up has opened the door to the flow of population and capital between urban and rural areas and between regions. The Spring Festival is the epitome of the entire reform and opening up, and it is a China in transition. Jin Yibing, a professor at the Party School of Guangzhou Railway Bureau Group and an expert in railway transportation, said in an interview.
Many years after graduation, Mu Hui saw from the news that under the impact of the "tide of millions of migrant workers" and "tens of millions of migrant workers", the passenger flow of Guangdong Railway Spring Festival has been rising by leaps and bounds, increasing by 5 million every five years, an increase of nearly 7 times in decades. During the study period, the return trip to Guangzhou Station witnessed the period of the fastest economic development and the largest number of people in the Spring Festival.
Today, Mu Hui is a well-known orthopedic surgeon in his hometown. Some of the friends who left home to study together became teachers, some went to the sea to start a successful business, some went overseas to study, and some entered state-owned enterprises. When they return home from their respective jobs, they no longer take the green train, but have more stable, faster and more comfortable options such as high-speed rail, airplanes, and self-driving cars.
In the past 70 years, from 23 million to 9 billion people, behind the Spring Festival, there are the study stories of many young people like Mu Hui, the life stories of countless migrant workers, and the story of China's further economic opening, integration and development.
The green train "changed" into the Fuxing
Our family bought a high-speed rail ticket and we could go home in 80 minutes. Before the Spring Festival in 2024, Song Qian, a citizen of Jinan, bought a high-speed rail ticket for a family of four to return to their hometown in the province.
On the high-speed rail, spacious and comfortable, the windows are bright and clean, everyone sits in their respective seats and looks at their mobile phones, plays with tablets, and feels that they have arrived at the station in the blink of an eye.
This is completely different from Mu Hui's memory of riding the green train for 20 years.
The green car I was riding in was especially crowded during the Spring Festival, and everyone was crowded in the carriage with their chests against their backs, and it was difficult to move. Mu Hui said that in the crowded carriage, he has even seen people standing on one leg and changing to the other leg when they are tired. Even the space under the seat is also utilized, and some people lay a single or nylon bag under the saddle and lie under the saddle the whole time. "There's a lot of dust under the saddle and the air is dirty, but it's much better than standing for dozens of hours. Mu Hui recalled.
The long journey also brings with it some interesting memories. In winter, when taking a train from Hainan to Shandong, experienced travelers bring all the clothes for the four seasons. "When we set off from Haikou, we were still wearing short sleeves, and it was getting colder and colder for more than 20 hours along the way, and we had to change to long sleeves halfway, and then we had to put on a jacket after the train entered Shandong, and then we changed into a down jacket or military coat before getting off the train. Mu Hui said.
Nowadays, most of the green trains have been replaced by high-speed rail, and it only takes more than 9 hours to travel from Guangzhou to Shandong. Mu Hui said with emotion that now, the speed of high-speed rail has been greatly improved, the temperature in the car is comfortable, and the morning and evening are coming, which was unimaginable 20 years ago.
It's faster, and that's the most direct feeling for people who take the train home.
In the 70 years of the Spring Festival, the green train used to stop and go, with an average speed of less than 40 kilometers per hour. Today, the speed of China's rail traffic has impressed the whole world.
In 2007, the first EMU train with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour departed from Shanghai Railway Station, and China entered the era of bullet trains. Two years later, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway was opened to traffic, and the maximum running speed of the train reached 380km h, and China officially entered the era of high-speed rail.
Before the Spring Festival in 2024, the Spring Festival ushered in more good news, and China's high-speed rail was once again "new".
On January 6, a CR400BF-Z Fuxing intelligent EMU entered the Zhengxi inspection warehouse of Xi'an EMU Depot of China Railway Xi'an Bureau Group, which is the first time that this type of EMU has been assigned to the northwest region of China.
On January 10, the G853 train of the Fuxing intelligent EMU from Wuhan, Hubei Province entered the terminal Xining Station, which was the first time that the Fuxing intelligent EMU drove on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The railway Spring Festival transportation has been "reborn" and ushered in a new era.
In the 70 years of the Spring Festival, the era of green trains has passed. Today, nearly 1,200 sets of Fuxing high-speed trains have been put into use on the vast land of the motherland, and the cumulative number of passengers has exceeded 2.2 billion.
Combined with the national strategy, smarter, low-carbon, more comfortable and more efficient vehicles are the future development direction of high-speed trains. Wu Donghua, a CRRC scientist and deputy chief engineer of CRRC Sifang, who participated in witnessing the breakthrough of China's high-speed rail from zero to leading the whole process of the world, said in an interview.
The "motorcycle army" and "bus passengers" who have gone away
A motorcycle, with a large bag of luggage and thick clothes, rode all the way from the bustling city to the direction of his hometown.
Since the end of the 90s of the last century, the "motorcycle army" has gradually become a unique scenery in the Spring Festival. Relevant data show that the "motorcycle army" returning to their hometowns during the Spring Festival reached a peak of about 1.1 million vehicles in 2013, and then began to decline, and by 2022, the number of motorcycles returning to their hometowns during the Spring Festival in Guangdong is only about 30,000.
In 2024, it will be discovered that the vigorous return to the hometown of the "motorcycle army" has gradually disappeared. Where did they go? This may start with a few stories.
In his memory, when he rode a motorcycle back to his hometown, he set off with more than 30 motorcycles, and he had to wear three or four pairs of pants to protect himself from the cold, wear a raincoat, and eat mainly by instant noodles and bread, and the journey was extremely difficult.
Nowadays, Liu Cheng's hometown is developing well, and the villagers rarely go out to work, and he and his wife work in a furniture factory and garment factory near their home, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan. Before the Spring Festival this year, there were very few people in the village who returned home on motorcycles from Guangdong.
At that time, Wang Zhengnian, a well-known representative of the "motorcycle army" who was well-known to the people of the whole country during the Spring Festival, had long since stopped riding motorcycles to return to his hometown.
More than ten years ago, Wang Zhengnian once took his pregnant wife to ride a motorcycle for five days and four nights, traveling 1,350 kilometers, from Guangdong to his hometown in Guizhou for the New Year. That experience was made into a documentary and touched countless people.
More than 10 years later, the high-speed train has reached his hometown, and it only takes more than six hours to go home.
The changes in the Spring Festival of Liu Cheng and Wang Zhengnian are the epitome of countless stories of the "motorcycle army", and also the epitome of the progress of the times.
The reporter noticed that in addition to the disappearance of the "motorcycle army", the bus station of the Spring Festival transportation is also becoming more and more deserted.
Shi Dawang, a Shandong driver engaged in passenger shuttles, has experienced the glorious era of passenger buses and witnessed its decline.
Shi Dawang told reporters that this year is the 20th Spring Festival he has experienced. For 20 years, he has been driving passenger buses between Jinan and Liaocheng Shen County.
Shi Dawang said that in the past, they never worried about the flow of passengers, and there were many trains, and the trains departed all day long, and all of them were full. The bus passengers from the south to the north have achieved the glory of the Spring Festival passenger transport.
In this year's Spring Festival, there are only 6 trains from Jinan to Shen County throughout the day. In the whole of last year, Shi Dawang could count the number of full occupancy in his impression, "maybe less than 10 times, mainly concentrated in."
Five. 1. Around the 11th holiday. ”
The disappearance of the "motorcycle army" and the decline of the Spring Festival bus are one of the epitomes of the changes in the Spring Festival. Relevant data shows that about 7.2 billion self-driving trips this year, accounting for 80% of the trips.
High-speed rail and high-speed railways are becoming more and more convenient, people's income levels are rising, and more and more people are returning to their hometowns by private cars. Mr. Wang, a citizen of Jinan, believes that private cars have become the "new army" of the Spring Festival, which shows that people's living standards have improved significantly.
The "sense of science and technology" in the Spring Festival
From queuing all night to booking tickets online, from punching tickets to entering the station with a face, from bringing four or five buckets of instant noodles to ordering takeout ...... on the high-speed railIn the Spring Festival in 2024, people found that the Spring Festival travel is becoming more and more full of science and technology, and the Spring Festival journey has gradually changed from crowded and tired to convenient and comfortable.
Back then, it was too difficult to grab a ticket, and I couldn't buy it when I went to the train station in advance and lined up all night! Who would have thought that tickets can now be booked on their mobile phone at their fingertips. Lao Li, 60 years old this year, shook his head again and again when he talked about the situation of "grabbing tickets" many years ago.
In the past, when he bought a train ticket during the Spring Festival, he had to take a train from the town to the city to buy a ticket, and he often queued up all night and couldn't buy a ticket. Now you can click on the ballot online with your mobile phone and pay without leaving home.
With the advancement of science and technology, now you only need to swipe your ID card and face when you take the train, unlike 20 years ago, when you had to punch holes in the paper ticket. Shandong Mu Hui said that during the Spring Festival, buying tickets, entering the station, taking the bus, and leaving the station can be easily done with just a mobile phone and an ID card.
Many years ago, a female classmate of Mu Hui returned to her hometown during the Spring Festival and carried two suitcases of specialties, including four or five coconuts, and after more than 40 hours along the way, she changed trains many times, "It's not an exaggeration, it's really tired and crying." ”
Nowadays, everyone no longer needs to carry specialties back to their hometowns in this way, they can place orders online and deliver them directly to their homes. Mu Hui said with a smile.
Not only do you not have to carry special products, but on today's high-speed rail, you can even order takeout for dinner.
In the past, when I went back to the south, I would prepare a bunch of instant noodles and eat them on the train. Mu Hui said with emotion that some friends have eaten instant noodles on the train, and they don't want to eat instant noodles for several years after graduation.
Now when you place an order on your mobile phone on the high-speed rail, the delivery person will deliver the meal to the platform and the conductor will hand it over to the passengers. Speaking of ordering takeout on the high-speed rail, Mu Hui was very happy.
The 12306 online ordering and distribution center in the waiting hall of Jinan West Railway Station is one of the "high-speed rail takeaway" centers, which is very busy during the Spring Festival.
According to reports, the high-speed rail takeaway service has been open for more than six years, and at present, 27 takeaway businesses have settled in the station, with rice, rice noodles, dumplings, hamburgers, pancakes, fruits, milk tea and other categories, with an average of 2,647 takeaway orders per day, an increase of nearly 7 times, becoming the station with the highest order volume among the 80 high-speed rail stations in the country.
In addition to the efficient service on the high-speed rail, compared with 70 years ago, the expressway service area of the Spring Festival is also full of technology and freshness.
In Shandong, the intelligent transformation and improvement of the Jinan-Qingdao Expressway has attracted praise from everyone: the road conditions are "real-time", the toll collection is "unmanned", the service is "customized", the rescue is "intelligent", and the business is "automated......".The element of wisdom has covered every corner on the way home.
I drove an electric car home for the Chinese New Year this year, charging in the service area for a while, resting for half an hour, and visiting the service area store. Xiao Lu, a "post-90s" girl from Shandong, bought an electric car this year and drove all the way back to her hometown, and the experience was very good.
Xiao Lu found that the high-speed service area is becoming more and more intelligent, not only is it convenient to charge mobile phones and computers, but also has more electric vehicle charging piles. What makes her even happier is that many service areas have been renovated and transformed into "folk streets" and commercial streets, so that everyone can rest on their journey back to their hometowns and happily go shopping and buy some special products and special clothing.
70 years, Spring Festival, too many changes.
70 years, the Spring Festival, and it seems that it has not changed.
Whether in the past or now, the story of the Spring Festival tells not only the hope of people returning home and the joy of reunion, but also the steaming spirit and good wishes of Chinese people who strive to move forward year after year! (Some interviewees have been named).
*: Poster News].