A woman carries a baby at a railway station in Fuzhou City, East China's Fujian Province, Jan. 13, 2017. Children are among millions of passengers on their way to hometowns for Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year. (Photo: China News Service/Li Nanxuan)
Looking around the carriage, Wang Xintong struggles to contain her excitement. The 8-year-old is on a train heading back to her hometown for New Year celebrations.
Her joy turns to fatigue after just a few minutes, and the 2,000-kilometer journey before her promises nothing but monotony.
"I'm suffocating in here! I don't want to be on the train anymore," she frets to her father, Wang Xiangquan.
"Daddy used to have to stand for over 20 hours going home on the train," he says. "Just have a little patience."
Xintong is one of the millions of children "lucky" enough to accompany her migrant worker parents who work far from home. Many other children are left behind with grandparents and see their parents only once or twice each year.
HOME SWEET HOME
Daddy is a van driver. Mummy works at a factory making water pipes. Xintong has been almost constantly on the move with them since she was three. Currently, they live in Fuzhou City 40 hours away from the rest of their family in Chongqing.
Xintong shares a single 20 square meter room with her parents, dominated by an ancient 21-inch television. Two beds and a makeshift wardrobe comprise the rest of their belongings. This is Wang Xintong's whole world.
"She locks the door and plays on her own after school," her mother, Yu Gaifen, told Xinhua.
When asked how many friends she had in Fuzhou, the girl gave what appeared to be an OK sign.
"Three?"
"Zero."
Moving five times in five years, it has been hard for her to make any friends. Though entitled to attend local schools, it can be difficult for outsiders to fit in.
"I don't understand the games my classmates play at school. I don't like being with them," Xintong pouted.
Her happiest time is now, Spring Festival, when her parents take a break from work and she can see her friends at "home."
