春运 The Spring Festival Travel Rush

每年měi nián春节Chūnjié前后qiánhòu，中国Zhōngguó都dōu会huì出现chūxiàn一场yì chǎng堪称kānchēng世界上shìjiè shàng规模guīmó最大zuì dà的de人口rénkǒu迁移qiānyí，这zhè就是jiùshì所谓suǒwèi的de“春运chūnyùn”。

Every year around Spring Festival, China sees what can be called the largest-scale population migration in the world — this is the so-called "chunyun."

在zài这段zhè duàn时间shíjiān里lǐ，数以亿计shùyǐyìjì的de人rén从cóng工作gōngzuò的de城市chéngshì赶回gǎnhuí老家lǎojiā，只zhǐ为了wèile和hé家人jiārén吃chī一顿yí dùn团圆饭tuányuánfàn。

During this period, hundreds of millions of people rush back from the cities where they work to their hometowns, just to eat a reunion dinner with family.

由于yóuyú车票chēpiào紧张jǐnzhāng，许多xǔduō人rén不得不bùdébù半夜bànyè守shǒu在zài电脑diànnǎo前qián，一遍又一遍yí biàn yòu yí biàn地de刷新shuāxīn页面yèmiàn抢票qiǎngpiào。

Because train tickets are scarce, many people have no choice but to sit up at their computers in the middle of the night, refreshing the page over and over to grab a ticket.

我wǒ父亲fùqin年轻niánqīng时shí曾经céngjīng站zhàn了le整整zhěngzhěng二十多个èrshí duō ge小时xiǎoshí的de火车huǒchē，才cái从cóng广州Guǎngzhōu回到huídào四川Sìchuān的de老家lǎojiā。

When my father was young, he once stood for a full twenty-some hours on a train, before finally getting from Guangzhou back to his hometown in Sichuan.

随着suízhe高铁gāotiě网络wǎngluò的de不断búduàn扩大kuòdà，回家huíjiā的de路lù虽然suīrán变得biàn de快kuài了le很多hěn duō，但dàn抢票qiǎngpiào的de压力yālì却què丝毫sīháo没有méiyǒu减少jiǎnshǎo。

As the high-speed rail network has kept expanding, the journey home has become much faster, but the pressure of grabbing tickets has not eased in the slightest.

与此同时yǔ cǐ tóngshí，一些yìxiē人rén选择xuǎnzé不再bú zài返乡fǎnxiāng，而是érshì把bǎ父母fùmǔ接到jiēdào自己zìjǐ工作gōngzuò的de城市chéngshì一起yìqǐ过年guònián。

At the same time, some people choose not to return to their hometown at all, but instead bring their parents to the city where they work to celebrate the New Year together.

在zài他们tāmen看来kàn lái，团圆tuányuán的de地点dìdiǎn并不bìng bù重要zhòngyào，重要zhòngyào的是de shì家人jiārén能不能néng bu néng聚jù在一起zài yìqǐ。

In their view, the location of the reunion isn't important — what matters is whether family can gather together.

春运chūnyùn不仅bùjǐn是shì一场yì chǎng交通jiāotōng考验kǎoyàn，更gèng折射zhéshè出chū中国人Zhōngguórén对duì“家jiā”这个zhège字zì始终shǐzhōng不变búbiàn的de情感qínggǎn。

Chunyun is not only a test of the transportation system — even more, it reflects Chinese people's unchanging feelings toward the word "home."

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

春运chūnyùnthe Spring Festival travel rush

迁移qiānyímigration

团圆tuányuánreunion

紧张jǐnzhāngtight; scarce

折射zhéshèto reflect

情感qínggǎnfeeling; sentiment

Grammar note 语法点

由于…，…不得不…

'Because of..., ... has no choice but to...' introduces a cause and its forced consequence.

由于车票紧张，许多人不得不半夜守在电脑前抢票。 — Because train tickets are scarce, many people have no choice but to sit up at their computers at night to grab tickets.

不仅…，更…

'Not only..., but even more...' — the second point outweighs the first.

春运不仅是一场交通考验，更折射出中国人对家的情感。 — Chunyun is not only a test of transportation, but even more reflects Chinese people's feelings about home.

Check yourself 小测验

1. What is "春运" (chunyun)?

2. What did the author's father do when he was young?

3. What have some people chosen to do instead of returning to their hometown?

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春运ChūnyùnThe Spring Festival Travel Rush

Key words 生词

Grammar note 语法点

Check yourself 小测验

Reading is the easy part. Speaking is where you get stuck.

More HSK 5 reading practice