No train or plane ticket? Other options for Spring Festival travel

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Millions of Chinese make the often long journey home every year to spend Spring Festival with their family. But not everyone takes the easy route, by plane or train.

Pan Shancu, a 42-year-old massage shop owner in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang Province, took about 27 hours to reach his hometown in Tiantai county on Friday after deciding to make the trip... on foot.

Setting out before 4:15 a.m. on Thursday, he arrived home at about 7:00 a.m. on New Year's day, having run 210 kilometers, the equivalent of about five marathons.

As he told the Qianjiang Evening News: “I think running is more interesting than driving, and you can appreciate the scenery along the way.”

Pan Shancu also is an amateur athlete. /Weibo Photo

Despite this, Pan said he would not repeat his run in the near future.

“I felt hungry, thirsty and miserable when finishing the line,” he said in a social media post.

In his nine-kilogram backpack, he had prepared enough energy snacks, but also pickles and gifts for his family, which tortured him during his run.

Motorbikers wearing padded jackets and carrying bulging bags are also a symbol of the Spring Festival travel rush in China. /VCG Photo.

Around 2.9 billion trips are expected to be made in China from February 1 to March 12 to coincide with the Lunar New Year holiday. But most people travel across the country by train, car or plane. According to the Chinese Rail Authority, the railway network will carry 390 million passengers - more than the entire US population - during the 40-day travel rush.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese also make it back home by motorbike every year. Due to the price or limited availability of tickets, many migrant workers who live far away from their hometown to make a better wage find this the better option.

Wang Haisheng, a 27-year-old worker at a furniture factory near Guangzhou, is one such example, who often traveled with his brother, with whom he took turns driving during the six-hour ride home.

Much like Pan, he was not keen to repeat the experience however. “The rides are very brutal. I felt so exhausted and my whole body was tired after riding," he said.