有一種節日叫我們回家過年

YU Jie is one of the lucky ones. The 21-year-old Shanghai hotel waitress boarded a train early yesterday on her way home hoping to arrive before Sunday, the Spring Festival, for a family reunion.

餘傑是幸運者之一。這位21歲的上海酒店服務員昨天早上登上了一列火車回家，希望週日之前到達，春節與家人團聚。

"It was so hard to get a train ticket. I had to divide my journey into two, from Shanghai to Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, and then from Wuhan to Yueyang, a city in Hunan Province," said Yu, one of millions of people heading home to visit their parents for the lunar New Year.

“很難買到一張火車票。我不得不將我的旅程分成兩種方案，從上海到湖北省省會武漢，然後從武漢到岳陽，湖南的一個城市，”餘說，數以百萬計在農曆新年回家探望父母的其中一個。

Traditionally, those living apart from their parents return home during the festival period.

傳統上，這些遠離父母的人在春節期間回家。

To encourage this, China's newly revised law on the elderly's rights says that from July 1 this year, people living apart from elderly parents should visit them often and employers should guarantee their rights and opportunities to do so.

爲了鼓勵這種傳統，中國新修訂的關於老年人的權益法律表示從今年7月1日起，遠離年邁父母的人應該經常探望他們，僱主應該保證他們這樣做的權利和機會。

Shen Guoming, an expert with the Shanghai Institute of Legislation, said the proposal was first initiated by the public.

沈國明，上海政法學院的法律專家說，這是首個由公衆發起的提案。

China has 250 million migrant workers and most of them have only one opportunity to go home during the Spring Festival. Others may not have a chance during the whole year.

中國有2.5億農民工，他們中的大多數春節期間只有一次機會回家。其他人可能整整一年都沒有機會。

"Going home" has become a national puzzle, due to Chinese employment rules, railway capacity, weather and even the online ticketing system.

“回家”已經成爲一個全國性的難題，由於中國就業規則、鐵路運力、天氣、甚至在線票務系統。

Yu said: "This year, I tried to buy a train ticket on the Internet, but got nothing. Then a colleague tried more than 100 times to call the ticketing phone number and finally bought me a ticket."

餘表示：“今年我想在網上買張火車票，但一無所獲。然後一個同事試了超過100次撥通售票電話，最後給我買到一張票。”

Because of the online ticketing system, Yu had to go home alone, as her friends did not get tickets on the same train. "We have to go home separately. Some have had to spend 1,000 yuan (US$160) on a plane ticket, which equates to half a month's salary," she said.

由於在線售票系統，餘不得不獨自回家，因爲她的朋友沒有買到同一列火車的票。“我們不得不分開回家。有些人不得不花1000元(160美元)買張機票，相當於半個月的薪水，”她說。

Only half the hotel's 100 employees will go home before the lunar New Year's eve, while the other half will have to wait until after the festival. But the good news is that the hotel owner also arranges for staff to go home every summer.

酒店100名員工只有一半將在農曆新年除夕夜之前回家，而另一半要等到春節之後。但好消息是酒店業主還安排了員工每年夏天回家。

The "two home visits" system is rare for hotels in big cities.

“兩個回家探望期”系統在大城市的酒店是罕見的。

"On the morning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, I will give each of my parents one red envelope," Yu said.

“在中國農曆新年的早上，我要給我父母一人一個紅包，”姜瑜說。

The happiest thing for her, she said, is that she can give her parents more than 10,000 yuan a year now. "All of it is saved from my daily expenses. I feel much better when I go home to eat and chat with my parents and brother."

對她來說最幸福的事，她說，是現在她能給她的父母1萬多元一年了。“這是從我的日常開支中省下來的。當我回家吃飯，與我的父母哥哥聊天時我感覺好多了。”