A ticket is always hard to come by during China's spring festival travel rush, as hundreds of millions of people are traveling at the same time. It's a tradition for the kids in China to return to their home-towns for the holiday – which is considered the most important family gathering all year round. But some families are doing just the opposite with the parents coming over to their children's cities for the Chinese Lunar New Year. CGTN's Li Jianhua earlier visited such a family in Beijing, who are from northeast China originally.

ZHAO FENGXIAN ZHANG XIANRU'S MOTHER "When my parents were around, my home is wherever they were. Now my parents are gone, so I would go wherever my child is. My home is where she is."

Like many Chinese families, Zhao comes to her only child's place for the Chinese Spring Festival every year, helping take care of her business, a pet hotel.

The pet hotel's business gets busier whenever Chinese holidays roll around, which makes returning home for festivals almost impossible.

"I've never been back home during festivals"

"She can't go back to my place."

"Never."

"It's only us who come to her place. I and her father drive here in all of the national holidays. We go back after staying here for a few days."

Owning a company herself, Zhao couldn't understand her daughter in the first place - but now she's compromised.

ZHAO FENGXIAN ZHANG XIANRU'S MOTHER "I'm snowed under most of the time, but on holidays, I'm free. I just want to have a regular life - taking my days off on holidays. But now my plan goes south because I must help my daughter. Everyone is saying I'm spending all of my holidays in Beijing."

One block's drive that's where her daughter lives. Here is her granddaughterwho she would also help take care of.

It was a tug of war as to where to spend the spring festival and one party has to "compromise".

ZHANG XINRU PET HOTEL OWNER "Technically, I wanna go back home for the festival, but I'm more attached to the cats - this doesn't sound right somehow. She tried to talk me out of it. I've been spending every minute with these cats - ever since they were kittens. I've been with them in some very important moments of their lives, like when they were spayed or neutered - they are more like family."

Sound harsh it may for a mother - but Zhao thinks her daughter takes after her and she's proud of it.

ZHAO FENGXIAN ZHANG XIANRU'S MOTHER "I believe a mother will determine whether a kid likes animals or not in the future. If a mother cannot accept animals, her kid's nature of loving animals will also be suppressed."

Conventionally, the youngsters in China will go back to their parents' during holidays, but families such as the Zhangs are starting to do the opposite - as the mother says, home is where my child is.

LI JIANHUA BEIJING "It is competitive here in China, including the journey back home. A ticket is hard to come by, as hundreds of millions of people are taking the same routes, so sometimes it's just easier to do it the other way around. LJH, CGTN, BJ."