BEIJING -- For centuries, Chinese living away from home loyally trekked back to their ancestral villages every Spring Festival. Last month, a record 45 million people hit road, rail and airlines during the seven-day public holiday. The most auspicious date in the lunar calendar is a time for family reunions. Or rather it used to be.
"Everyone still travels at New Year like before," says Wang Suqi of the China International Travel Service in Beijing. "But now they are wearing the baseball caps of their tour group!"
Mass tourism has become commonplace for the first time in China's long history. Shunning their filial duties, increasing numbers of Chinese prefer to explore the incredible breadths of their country, the world's third-largest.