Across China: Spring Festival still a busy time for some

2023-January-27 09:40 By: Xinhua

XIAMEN/NANJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Spring Festival, traditionally an occasion for a family reunion, was always described as happy and relaxing. But the seven-day holiday could also be a busy period for some in China who spend the time at work.

Tuesday was the third day of the Chinese Lunar New Year when 26-year-old Chen Jinping was packing at a delivery station in Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province before sending the items to customers.

Originally from Gansu in northwest China, about 2,000 km away, Chen has worked as a delivery man for nearly three years.

"I haven't celebrated Spring Festival with my family these years," he told Xinhua. While he talked, Chen, in his uniform, didn't stop working.

"During the Spring Festival, people tend to purchase more, and we would be extremely busy," he said. "So I volunteered to stay rather than go back home."

His day started before 6 a.m., and he arrived at the delivery station an hour later. Each day Chen had to send more than 150 items to customers. After the last pack was delivered, it would be 9 p.m.

But Chen loved his work.

During the COVID-19 outbreak in Xiamen, he always received phone calls from elderly people who needed medicine.

"They didn't know how to order online, so I helped them," said the bespectacled man. "It gave me a sense of achievement and responsibility."

Away from home, Chen always had video chats with his parents. He is now preparing for an exam, through which hopefully he could get a bachelor's degree in human resource management.

Talking about his new year wish, he said: "passing the test and good health for my parents."

While Chen got up in the early morning, Li Youping in the same city had already begun collecting sea garbage.

On the day of the Chinese New Year, cleaner Li and his colleagues worked from 5:30 a.m. till nearly 7 p.m. to ensure a clean environment for the firework party in the evening.

On the second day, they collected more than 70 tonnes of garbage, more than three times the amount of an ordinary day.

"Many of my colleagues are from outside the city who had left home for a long time," he said. "I am local and should be the one to work at this time."

Li's happiest moment came when he heard visitors to Xiamen praise the city for its cleanness, which, he said, encouraged him to work harder.

According to him, it was their tradition to clean the area, which they were responsible for one more time on New Year's eve. "That means to sweep away our efforts of the entire year before entering a new one."

In Jiangsu of east China, a major manufacturing province, many factories didn't stop working during the Spring Festival to complete their orders.

In the Xuzhou XCMG Port Machinery Co., Ltd, more than 100 people were working with roaring machines and flying sparks during the welding process. The vehicles they manufactured will be exported to Southeast Asian countries in early February.

Zhou Yujie, head of the company's manufacturing management department, said that a big wish of the workers was to watch the blockbuster "The Wandering Earth II," which premiered during the Spring Festival.

"Some of the vehicles in the movie were made by them," Zhou said proudly.

Wang Jiong, deputy general manager of the Nanjing High Speed Gear Manufacturing Co., Ltd (also known as NGC) of Jiangsu, saw the massive market potential behind the increasing orders, as their products were exported to more than 30 countries and regions.

On Thursday, one day before the end of the Spring Festival holiday, about 80 percent of the workers in NGC had returned to their posts.

"Everyone wants to work hard, and live up to a good year," Wang said.

Editor: ZAD
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