China - yet another 2 billion trips

17 Feb - More than 155 million Chinese people have started out today to return home for the Lunar New Year. Celebrations begin tomorrow and last 15 days. During the holidays, people are expected to make 2.17 billion trips, an absolute record.

The trip home to celebrate the New Year, also known as the Spring Festival since 1911, is the only time of the year that China's army of migrant workers spends with their families. As per tradition, before starting to feast, debts are paid and presents bought.

The year to come is that of the pig of fire, which falls once every 60 years and is held to be especially auspicious. Hospitals across the country say they are expecting a baby boom because the Chinese horoscope predicts fortune, health and happiness for those born under this sign.

- This is the third year I have posted the 2-billion trip item. One wonders how much fossil fuel have been expended, and how many tons of CO2 have been released, to power this annual migration - a billion trips to go home, wherever "home" is, and a billion trips back.

And despite the horoscopes, this year's CNY seems a bit more subdued here. The multi-billion dollar market wipeout in recent days couldn't have helped much either, in the fortune department.

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