How to make 3 billion trips in 40 days

The socalled chunyun (Spring Festival travel season), the most intensive and impressive travel rush of the world began Sunday in China.

It is said that approximately 3.1 billion trips will be made by public transport within 40 days. It is impossible to satisfy all those involved.

China has made its utmost efforts to make chunyun successful on a scale unseen around the world in terms of human migration. However, the pains it causes constantly remind Chinese of the country's unique situation: for a country with a population of 1.3 billion, modernization will never go on smoothly.

Without chunyun, China would not develop highspeed railway so quickly and without ticket touts and the urgent demands of migrant workers to go home for Spring Festival, there would be fewer debates about China's grassroots legal system construction or about the plight of separated families in the countryside.

Every year around this time, chunyun is the top subject of public opinion, bringing many key topics back to the debating table, such as people's livelihood, equality and bureaucracy.

Chunyun concerns not only transportation, but also the government's consideration of the public and media supervision of the government.

It is no coincidence that the bullet train crash accident in July became the most resounding public event last year.

Chinese people hold complicated feelings toward railways. People habitually queue through the night, face off with ticket touts in long queues for the chance to go home but also have linked themselves to the outside world through rail travel. Chunyun is nearly a microcosm of China and society should take it as an opportunity to look at itself.

China cannot eliminate all the obstacles in chunyun but of course, migrant workers cannot stay in cities over Spring Festival.

Chunyun is difficult, but need not be painful.

Most people have a difficult roundtrip during the Spring Festival holiday, but they still take it despite the tedious trips. That is because chunyun provides them with the chance to go home and be with their families.

The country has many problems now, it should move gradually forward to overcome them.

As for chunyun, the media should be on top of the issues, helping reveal problems for the government to tackle. China is trying to satisfy all the people, but even if it fails for some, chunyun remains a time for good cheer.