Travelling to Guangzhou, China After Lunar New Year - Worst Possible Time

Our visit to China was lovely as we got to see many new places, meet our friends and the most important thing - being reunited with our loved one even for a short period of time. How we wished we could have spent more time in China. However, we were expected to be in another country by a certain day and needed to be in the Hong Kong Airport to catch our flight.

We knew ahead of time that travelling around the Lunar New Year would be extremely busy therefore we bought our fast train tickets from Chengdu to Fenghuang way ahead of time. The fast train was comfortable. We enjoyed our ride as we could talk, work on our computer or just relax on the train while the staff came by with food carts. But going back to Guangzhou was a completely different story.

Since we were not sure to where our friends would take us therefore we didn't purhase our return tickets back to Guangzhou where we started our China trip. It was an impossibility trying to get any plane or fast train tickets back to Guangzhou right after the Chinese New Year as everyone was getting back to work in the cities. J had been trying extremely hard to book tickets as soon as we found out where we would be after Fenghuang. Despite his almost non stop diligent efforts attempting to secure our return tickets, it was to no avail. The only option we had was taking a 13 hour bus ride from Jishou to Guangzhou, then to HK for our flight. That was exacty what we did. Though most Chinese prefer riding on the fast train these days while travelling in China, they still have the option of riding on the bus to their various destinations. However, the bus is much less comfortable and much slower than the fast train.

We were fortunate to secure three seats on the bus. But instead of the scheduled 13 hour ride, the bus took more than 30 hours to reach our destination. There were huge traffic jams everywhere on everywhere, ie. on the highways, on the streets leading out of cities, towns etc. There were times when the bus was at a snail pace or at a complete stop for hours. We had never seen such serious traffic jams and extended periods of delay. There was very few breaks during the bus ride. However, for passenger safety, Chinese laws do prohibit the buses from being driven for a few hours past midnight so that the drivers could have some proper rest.

It was a nightmarish experience we do not ever wish to experience again. However, we did see some beautiful scenery riding on the bus to Guangzhou. We passed by many rural villages and were surprised to see many recently built nice houses with cars parked in front of them, a sign of the economic growth for rural people.

But we learned our lesson and we will remind ourselves - avoid travelling or visiting China during the Chinese New Year when the world's biggest migration takes place. RT, Caught in the traffic jam right after Chinese New Year time 022024