During the Spring Festival holiday in 2019, Chen Bo and his family on a vacation at the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Family Reunion Overseas

“Chinese people are pursuing a high-quality life in this quick paced era. We are looking forward to a period of time where we can feel at ease with our family members. The Spring Festival is the perfect long holiday to make that happen,” said 30-something Zhang Xiaolei, a teacher at Tianjin University’s School of Education. Her parents reside in Kunming, Yunnan Province together with her elderly grandmother. The parents occasionally spend short stays with her in Tianjin. A family reunion is a luxury for them.

“I am accustomed to commuting between Beijing and Tianjin. My life is completely occupied by lesson preparation, teaching, paper writing, traveling around the country, lectures, and field research,” said Zhang.

During the Spring Festival in 2016, she took her family members to Thailand for a one-week holiday. “Though an independent woman, I am quite traditional, hoping to spend the Spring Festival holiday with my family. But, I prefer more diversified choices, for example, accompanying them on an overseas journey, just to have a relaxing time and catch up.”

She said winter either in Beijing or Tianjin is always bitterly cold. Kunming is no better. Recalling her Thailand trip, she said that year China was hammered by a cold snap and her decision to travel somewhere warm was vindicated.

According to Zhang, there were two reasons she chose Thailand. It is much more convenient to travel short distance and accommodation and transport costs are reasonable. Visitors can enjoy a high-quality yet inexpensive holiday. “You can book tickets easily on apps such as Ctrip and Fliggy. Chinese tourists can get visas when they land, making the whole experience very convenient.”

Zhang said Bangkok is a must-see city. “It is steeped in Buddhism, has all-encompassing attractions and is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.”

She said she had previously consulted the famous Lonely Planet travel guidebook before the trip. “We are independent travelers, loving tours with no time limitation. For some scenic spots, we may visit twice, just for the contrasting scenery at different times of a day.”

Thailand is famous for its island tours, such as Pattaya and Phuket — all are popular tourist destinations. However, Zhang’s family chose Elephant Island. “As Chinese people increasingly travel abroad, many of them prefer routes that are not crowded with tourists so as to enjoy their own time with the family. We just lay on the beach, savoring fresh seafood and taking photos in the pleasant scenery. It was perfect!”

Happy Parent-Child Time

Chen Bo, a father of two, and a busy metropolis commuter in Beijing, also chose to travel abroad in 2019 with his wife and girls during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday. “My wife is a doctor. Both of us have little free time to spend with our children, therefore we decided to make full use of this long holiday and let our parents have a rest from taking care of the children. So we chose to travel to Okinawa in Japan, enjoying our days at leisure.”

Chen said when the first child was born he was very stressed as he had just switched jobs to earn more money.

“I had to live in the company’s dormitory on weekdays and could only go back home on weekends. My parents helped us to take care of the baby.” To reduce traveling expenses and save time, he had no choice back then. Though his salary increased, and the whole family moved to a three-bedroom apartment, he had less time to spend with his child.

“Because of work pressure, I was not close to the elder girl, and she refused to go to kindergarten,’’ Chen said. “In 2017, the birth of our second daughter awakened me. I realized that nothing is more important than a parent’s expression of love and companionship with their children. Eventually, I switched to another company that ensures I can come back home after work. The Spring Festival holiday is definitely a period for us to spend some quality time together.”

Chinese New Year celebration has changed so much, and it’s not just for family members to gather together and have a reunion meal, or for relatives and friends to express good wishes for the next year, or for children to receive red money envelops or buy new clothes, said Chen.

“Today mobile payment makes our life much easier: you can have video conversations with family via WeChat on cellphone; take a bullet train back to your homes hundreds of miles away, thanks to the high-speed rail network; order a takeaway banquet within an hour, merely by tapping on numerous apps; and also shop on platforms like Taobao.com and JD.com, which deliver your items at top speed,” he said.

Shortening Distances

Some say that the reason that Chinese people seem happier is because they earn more. But there are other reasons. For example, Chinese passports are more valuable, having been endorsed with visa waivers in many countries; the mobile payment services make it easy to book tickets, hotels, and rent cars. In short, a smartphone makes going abroad so simple.

In addition, China’s comprehensive high-speed railway network offers its people more choices. In the “old days” they had to wait in a long queue for one ticket that could get them home just before Chinese New Year’s Eve. While physical distance has been shortened, the distance between hearts is in dire need of attention. Travel with family members that can revive those old days is people’s greatest wish these days.

For the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, Zhang Xiaolei got a bigger plan. She will lead a family tour group of her parents, cousin, and her cousin’s teenage son to Japan for a seven-day vacation. “The 2020 Olympic Games will kick off in Tokyo and we would like to experience the atmosphere in advance,” she explained a reason why she chose the country. “But more importantly, it is about a fresh experience and some quality time with the family.”