Slow train home

归途慢车

Drum Tower

2023-01-25

41 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

China is celebrating the lunar new year. The Ministry of Transport predicts that by February 15th over 2bn journeys will be made by Chinese heading to their home towns–and for some migrant workers, it'll be the first time they've returned since the start of the covid-19 pandemic three years ago. The Economist's Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, has a standing ticket for a train ride that's part of the biggest annual human migration on the planet. He asks passengers on a two-day train from Guangzhou to Urumqi about the economic and emotional challenges involved in going home. He and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, also hear from Han Dongfang, founder of the China Labour Bulletin, about a pay problem that's gripping the country's most vulnerable workers. Sign up to our weekly newsletter here and for full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/drumoffer.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • Hello, I'm Alice Su, the Economist Senior China correspondent based in Taipei.

  • I'm here with my co-host David Rennie, the Economist Beijing Bureau Chief.

  • China is in holiday mode.

  • It's the start of the Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, the biggest day in the Chinese calendar.

  • Hundreds of millions of Chinese travel back to their hometowns and villages to celebrate with loved ones.

  • It's the world's largest human migration.

  • China's transport ministry predicts that 2.1 billion journeys will be taken from now until February 15th.

  • I caught the train from a giant industrial city on China's south coast to its rural heartland.

  • I asked passengers about the joys and challenges of heading home, both economic and emotional.

  • This is Drum Tower. From The Economist.

  • David, hello.

  • Why thank you.

  • But Happy New Year.

  • Tell me about Spring Festival. Is this reviving all kinds of childhood memories?

  • How are you about to spend the holiday?

  • For me right now, I've just been working very hard trying to meet deadlines before Spring Festival.

  • And the big thing for me really has been that my parents are here

  • and we're preparing to cook together with them.

  • Also my dog, who I left behind in Beijing more than a year ago, has finally just arrived in Taipei.

  • So I'm very, very excited about that. Even though he's not a human, but he's part of our family.