Coach station care team aspire to flight crew quality

During national holidays, most people take a break. Guo Na just gets busier.

She leads a team of attendants tasked with taking care of travelers at the largest long-distance coach station in Baoding, Hebei province.

"Holidays like Chinese New Year bring far more passengers, which means much more work," said Guo, 38, who has headed the team since it was set up in 2003. "We want passengers to have a great experience, just like the kind of high-quality service flight attendants are known for."

Like coach stations in most major cities, the one in Baoding is mainly used around Spring Festival by migrant workers heading home for the holiday.

"They may not be highly educated people, but they have the same or even stronger desire to get home after a year of hard work," Guo said.

She said her team members carry out about 200 routine services, including distributing hot drinking water in waiting rooms and helping passengers buy tickets. For the start of the new lunar year, they also made dumplings for passengers.

"We want to create a festive atmosphere, as many passengers are still on the way home when they should be eating a Spring Festival meal with their family," Guo said.

During the annual 40-day travel peak around Chinese New Year, she estimates that more than 20,000 people a day pass through the station.

Coaches travel to 15 provinces and regions, including Zhejiang, Sichuan, Liaoning and Shandong, with some destinations as far as 1,000 kilometers away.

"Our services are no great feats, but they all help passengers," Guo said, adding that one of the most important is helping passengers recover lost items.

In the past 15 years, station attendants have found more than 20,000 lost items worth a total of 2 million yuan ($315,000) and received at least 2,000 thank-you letters from grateful passengers.

Guo said her team also has a fund - to which attendants contribute 10 yuan a month - to help passengers who have no money but urgently need to buy a bus ticket. So far, the fund has paid out 18,000 yuan to 1,447 passengers.

In recognition of her outstanding performance over the years, Guo was named as a national model worker three years ago. She was also chosen as a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October.

As access to high-speed trains and air travel has improved, fewer people are using long-distance coaches. However, Guo insists road transport has a unique advantage.

"Buses can go directly to places trains and planes can't, such as villages and scenic areas," she said. "For some passengers, we can provide customized services to show them how to save time and energy to reach their destinations."

Her team is now working on handy maps that show the best routes to places within Xiongan New Area, such as the Baiyangdian scenic spot.

"Since the area was established in April, more passengers from other cities and provinces have been visiting, either for business or tourism," Guo said. "This is another small gesture, but I'm happy my job gives me the opportunity to bring convenience to people."