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Very good that I have received messages from friends about New Year’s greeting. Though spring festival will come in more than one mouths, people are busy preparing for the final sprint. And some are still worrying who have not booked a train ticket going back home.
Such a magnificant migrantion during the spring festival is rarely to see in other place on the earth. This reminds me of the arrival of winter holiday when I was ready to buy a ticket after exams. At the time there was not so convenient to reserve tickets online, we had to go to the station.
In order to win high possibility of buying such a hard-to-buy one, the whole roomates start out in the early morning. There were people already crowded around in the booking room when we were there. There were two main groups, one was migrant workers, another was college students. They probably had beening waiting there from the previous night for the purpose of getting a ticket once those tickets were to sell.
Nothing else could we do but wait in line. Sigh of disspointment from students after being told there were no more tickets available. Which made me nervous. I prayed that would be fine as long as I could have one whatever it was available for seat or just standing back home. Thank goodness, I got a seat. Good feeling brought happiness, the sky looked like more blue and air more fresh.
On the day going back home, it was another unforgettable experience. There was no such a high speed train developed at that time. I first got in the compartment, and found the seat. Soon, it was people making the room stuffed. Though I got the seat, I just hardly moved a muscle. The aisle was aslo with crowded people. As marching of the train, the room became more and more terriblly squeezed. It picked up more people, while no sign of anybody getting off. Hours and hours elapsed, it turned out to be a little bit loose after some got off halfway.
My dear lord. During all the trip, it was like a lifetime lesson which taught me I should never again go home buy the ticket, at least, I could have bought one of sleeper's with extra money.
Though it is more convenient for us to buy online today, it is still hard to book because all of them are sold within seconds even with the introduction of verification code. And some more tickets are kept for institions, such as travel angencies.
So it is quite an unique innovatoin. That is people who still cannot have tickets, they just go for help from an angency in the name of traveling. Then it is done. The desination where it is to visit is where his hometown at. If money is no problem, even an air ticket might be easy to get.
How disappointed and bravo we are.
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Post comment Comment (2 replies)
- Reply sunnyv
- I still remember clearly the chaotic scenes at the railway stations during the holiday seasons of Spring Festival and National day. It was so frustrating for the passengers having to wait in long lines for hours just to buy a ticket to return home. The stations could have managed it better but they did not do anything to relieve those waiting. They could have easily set up a where people do not have to wait in lines.
In my city, for high demand routes, they use a transparent lottery like system to issued tickets according to your ID Card number. You would know beforehand whether you would have the ticket, then you go to pay, show your ID and pay for the ticket. This system can prevent unfair insiders taking tickets and no need to line up or frantically buying online.
It is hard to imagine standing all the way home on a train compartment. Even sitting is tired, so I don't know how they can stand all the way. It all depends on affordability. Once a year, pay for a sleeper seat or buy a cheap plane ticket. I have noticed that system has improved recently.
Sometimes, just for the chance to visit parents and loved one back home, any hardship can be tolerated.
- Reply teadrinking
- Now the paying system is upgraded, so it saves me time to buy when I want to go somewhere. Only I have to do is to book it on an app from phone. Luckily I do not have to buy tickets in spring festival, compared with those whose hometowns are far away in long distance.
sunnyv: I still remember clearly the chaotic scenes at the railway stations during the holiday seasons of Spring Festival and National day. It was so frustrat ...
It is really tough to stand on the train all the way. No one else wants to do that, but sometimes there is no alternative choice. Better than having no tickets. The will of going home supports them.
That kind of experience really impressed me.
