Going home for lunar New Year

For most rural migrants working in the city, Spring Festival is their only chance to go home to see their families. That's the reason for China's annual massive migration. In today's "My Migrant Life" series, Liu Ying tells us why so many people put up with the hardship.

Packing to go home. This is the moment that Song Wuchang and his wife Song Fengyun have been longing for. The couple comes from Henan province in Central China. He runs a small car repair business, and she works in a factory making power transformers. In their six years in Beijing, their thoughts have always been with their children.

Song said, "I miss my children very much. It's just because things are so difficult economically. Otherwise we would have gone back to see our children much earlier."

"People all want to return home for Spring Festival. We're definitely happy to go home. Our children called and asked us to go back well in advance and we promised them to return early."

The couple bought two hard seat tickets, the cheapest. They will spend 12 hours on the train and another 2 hours on the bus. That's a typical journey for many rural migrants.

Some nine hundred kilometers away from Beijing, at the Song home in Lingtou village, we meet their two children -- 13-year-old Mengmeng and 6-year-old Mengbo. Both go to school in town. Their grandmother takes care of them most of the time.

-- "Do you want to get together with your parents?"

"I do."

-- "Have you told them your wish?"

"No."

-- "Why not?"

"It's not easy for them to make money. I don't want them to worry about me."

The grandmother has been supporting her son in her own way.

Song's mother said, "I told them not to come back this year to save the fare. My son suffers from asthma. The journey is dangerous for him. So I told him to look after himself."

-- "Don't you want him back here?"

Song's mother said, "Yes, how can I not miss him?! Sometimes I miss him so much and cry. But I wouldn't let them know."

And finally, after a 14-hour trip, Song Wuchang and Song Fengyun arrive home.

Song said, "Do you miss Mom? Give Mom a kiss. Mom misses you so much!"

"Miss Mom? Mom misses you so much!"

The couple has brought gifts for everyone. New clothes bought in Beijing for the grown-ups and their children.

Song said, "I'm so happy to be home! Seeing my mother, my children, the relatives and friends, I'm really happy!"

--"How long do you plan to stay?"

"We plan to go back to Beijing on February 19th after celebrating Spring Festival. Since we don't farm any more, there's not much to do here. So we'd better go back early to earn money to support the parents and our children."

The couple plans to stay just a little more than two weeks at home. They say their biggest wish is to be able to save enough money to take the family to Beijing, and always be together.

Song Wuchang and Song Fengyun's family is just one in China's more than 200 million rural migrant workers. Young adults work in the city, while the old and the children stay at home in the countryside. The rare chance to be together is why rural migrants have to get home ahead of Spring Festival every year,no matter what. And for those who ask why they have to leave again after the short stay -- I think the answer is just - for a better life.

In tomorrow's episode of "My Migrant Life", our reporter examines the difficultires of employment for migrant workers in cities amid the global financial crisis.