Spring Festival Travel Rush in Chinese 春运
chūnyùn
Spring Festival travel rush in Chinese is 春运 (chūn yùn).
Also searched for as: chunyun, chinese new year travel, train tickets home.
The world's biggest journey home. 15 words and phrases for Spring Festival travel in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
春运 (chūn yùn) is the Spring Festival travel rush, the roughly 40-day period around Chinese New Year when hundreds of millions of people head home. Its vocabulary is all about getting there: 抢票 (qiǎng piào) for a 火车票 (huǒ chē piào), settling for a 站票 (zhàn piào) if you're unlucky, and pushing through stations that are 人山人海 (rén shān rén hǎi), all so you can 回家过年 (huí jiā guò nián).
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 春运 | chūn yùn | Spring Festival travel rush |
| 回家过年 | huí jiā guò nián | to go home for New Year |
| 抢票 | qiǎng piào | to grab tickets |
| 火车票 | huǒ chē piào | train ticket |
| 站票 | zhàn piào | standing ticket |
| 人山人海 | rén shān rén hǎi | huge crowds |
| 排队 | pái duì | to queue |
| 行李 | xíng li | luggage |
| 年货 | nián huò | New Year shopping (food, gifts) |
| 返乡 | fǎn xiāng | to return to your hometown |
| 返程 | fǎn chéng | the return journey |
| 高铁 | gāo tiě | high-speed train |
| 堵车 | dǔ chē | traffic jam |
| 团圆饭 | tuán yuán fàn | reunion dinner |
| 打工 | dǎ gōng | to work away from home |
Usage tips
- 春运 is short for 春节运输 (chūn jié yùn shū), "Spring Festival transport"; it officially starts a couple of weeks before New Year and runs for around 40 days.
- 你回家过年吗？ is the standard small-talk question in the weeks before the holiday, and 过年 (guò nián) is the everyday verb for celebrating Chinese New Year.
- 返乡 (fǎn xiāng) and 返程 (fǎn chéng) are mirror images: 返乡 is heading back to your hometown before New Year, 返程 is the return trip to the city afterwards, which can be just as packed.
Common mistakes
- Saying 我抢票了 to mean you got a ticket → that only says you tried; add a result complement: 我抢到票了 (wǒ qiǎng dào piào le), "I managed to get a ticket".
- Assuming 站票 (zhàn piào) is a station ticket → 站 means both "to stand" and "station", and 站票 is a ticket with no seat; a platform ticket is 站台票 (zhàn tái piào).
Mini dialogue
- A你今年回家过年吗？Nǐ jīn nián huí jiā guò nián ma?Are you going home for New Year this year?
- B回啊，可是火车票太难抢了，我只抢到了站票。Huí a, kě shì huǒ chē piào tài nán qiǎng le, wǒ zhǐ qiǎng dào le zhàn piào.Yes, but train tickets are so hard to get. I only managed a standing ticket.
- A站十几个小时？太累了吧！Zhàn shí jǐ gè xiǎo shí? Tài lèi le ba!Standing for over ten hours? That's exhausting!
- B没办法，春运嘛。为了吃上团圆饭，值得。Méi bàn fǎ, chūn yùn ma. Wèi le chī shàng tuán yuán fàn, zhí dé.No choice, it's the New Year rush. It's worth it for the reunion dinner.
Example sentences
- 春运是世界上最大的人口流动。The Spring Festival rush is the world's biggest migration.
- 今年你回家过年吗？Are you going home for New Year this year?
- 春运的火车票要抢。You have to fight for train tickets at Spring Festival.
- 我终于抢到火车票了！I finally got a train ticket!
- 我只买到了站票。I could only get a standing ticket.
- 火车站人山人海。The station was packed.
- 我排了两个小时的队。I queued for two hours.
- 大家带着大包小包的行李。Everyone's carrying bags and bags of luggage.
- 我给家人带了很多年货。I'm taking lots of New Year goodies home for the family.
- 返乡的人特别多。Huge numbers of people are going back to their hometowns.
- 返程票也很难买。Return tickets are hard to get too.
- 坐高铁回家快多了。It's much faster to go home by high-speed train.
- 高速公路上堵车堵了十个小时。The motorway was jammed for ten hours.
- 为了吃上团圆饭，再累也值得。However tiring, it's worth it for the reunion dinner.
- 他在城市打工，一年只回家一次。He works in the city and only goes home once a year.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Spring Festival travel speaking island has 8 everyday questions about Spring Festival travel to prepare your own answers to.