South China Morning Post
China youth spend Spring Festival away from ‘nosy’ relatives, take part-time jobs for extra cash
South China Morning Post · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from RSS
Summary
The Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for family reunions, but this year a growing number of young Chinese people chose to avoid going home. This year’s Spring Festival holiday took place between February 15 and 23, which is the longest break in recent years. The tradition of family reunion during the holiday also leads to the annual chunyun, or Spring Festival travel rush, which is known as the world’s largest human migration. This year’s chunyun lasts 40 days from February 2 to March...
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The Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for family reunions, but this year a growing number of young Chinese people chose to avoid going home.This year’s Spring Festival holiday took place between February 15 and 23, which is the longest break in recent years.The tradition of family reunion during the holiday also leads to the annual chunyun, or Spring Festival travel rush, which is known as the world’s largest human migration.A woman relaxes alone with a good book. Many young people chose not to make the troublesome journey back home for the Chinese New Year. Photo: lifeweekThis year’s chunyun lasts 40 days from February 2 to March 13, and is reportedly expected to generate a record 9.5 billion Inter-Regional passenger trips.However, instead of following the tradition of returning home to spend the Chinese New Year with their families, many migrant workers chose to stay put.On mainland social media, the hashtag “spending the Chinese New Year at my rental flat” became trendy this year.Some did so to avoid expensive and hard to get transport tickets.This person combines exercise and reading to relax during the holidays. Photo: lifeweek
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