逆向探亲(nixiang tanqin): Visit to daughter or son

A new trend of "reverse visits "was noticeable during this year's Spring Festival. Instead of daughters or sons returning to their home-towns for family reunions, more parents visited the cities where their son or daughter live and work to spend the holiday with them.

It has been customary in the past for people to return to their hometowns during the Spring Festival holiday for reunions with their parents and relatives, no matter how far away they are from their hometowns. This has resulted in the phenomenon of the Spring Festival rush, which is the famous, large-scale, short-term migration once a year involving millions of people. Although China's transport system has developed rapidly, it is still hard to purchase a train or plane ticket in many places before and immediately after Spring Festival. For many, the journey home during this time is long and tough, and they don't have much time to enjoy with their families.

Therefore, some parents have begun visiting their son or daughter for Spring Festival as they have more flexibility in choosing when they travel. This trend not only eases the pressure on ticket demand in the run-up to the Lunar New Year, it also extends the time that the family is together. People's lifestyles change with the times, but the changing lifestyles don't lessen the desire of families to be together.