As the 2022 Spring Festival holiday comes to an end, Monday is the first working day of the Year of the Tiger. For those who didn't go home to celebrate the festival with their families, the difference may not be so great.

This year's was the third Spring Festival since the outbreak of COVID-19. During these years, it has been not easy for the Chinese people to return to their hometowns to spend the biggest holiday with their families due to the volatile situation surrounding the pandemic. 

This year, many people chose to stay put at the cities they work or study, but irrespective of their location, they celebrated the biggest extravaganza in their own unique way. The festival is not only an important day for family reunions, but also an integral tradition.

"Watching the Spring Festival Gala at home on New Year's Eve would be a satisfactory Spring Festival for me," Yang Changhui told CGTN. He is a deliveryman who moved from north China's Hebei Province and has been working in Beijing for five years.  

Watching the Spring Festival Gala is a shared memory of millions of Chinese, and the festive atmosphere comes to a climax when the bells toll at midnight for the New Year countdown.

"The most important thing about Spring Festival is the reunion, which is deeply felt by those who are away from home," said Feng Qianchao, a freelancer in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. 

Feng was born in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province. This year is the third Spring Festival she spent away from her family.

"Although as a freelancer, I can arrange the time to go home more freely, but I miss my families more during the Spring Festival. As the elders in my family are getting older, I want to spend more time with them during the festival and give them a sense of ceremony," said Feng. 

Speaking about the impact of a Spring Festival away from home, she said she was beginning to understand the meaning of loneliness. "There is a growth after I face loneliness," she said. 

"If I can spend the Spring Festival alone, what is there to fear?"

"For me, Spring Festival is significant because it gives people hope for the future and provides an opportunity to think about what they want to do in the coming year," said Lucie Yu from northeast China's Jilin Province. 

"No matter how bad the past year has been, by enjoying the Spring Festival one can feel things can get better (in the New Year)," Yu, who chose to not to go home for the holiday, told CGTN about what the Spring Festival means for her.

"Spring Festival gives me a chance to slow down the pace of my life," said Eason Huang, who is originally from south China's Guangdong Province but stayed back in Beijing for the holiday. As a food lover, he cooked the New Year's Eve dinner with his friends: a group of post-90s who didn't go back home for various reasons.

"Spring Festival reminds me of who I have been fighting for this past year," said Jiang Lansuo, a neighborhood security guard who was still working on New Year's Eve. 

"Although I can't get together with my family, they give me the motivation to work harder," said Jiang, who is from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"Regardless of where the festival celebration is taking place, some common themes always emerge," said He Chun, who is one of the young people who didn't go home for the Spring Festival.

(Cover image designed by Qu Bo)

Check out CGTN's special coverage: Super Night 2022