9.5 billion trips expected for Chinese festival

Liu Zhiquan was waiting for a 30-plus hour train journey to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, some 1,242 miles from Beijing, where he works in construction.

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TRAVELERS wait for their trains at a station in Hangzhou, China, before the Lunar New Year festival.

LONG WEI Feature China.

He's one of the hundreds of millions expected to travel to their hometowns as part of the world’s largest movement of humanity, or “chunyun” as it’s called in China, ahead of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17.

“Things feel worse this year than last. The economy is bad and it’s getting harder to make money,” he said.

Liu chose a slower train to save money: A high-speed train would take just nine hours but would cost more than twice as much.