It's that time of the year again

That's right, time to go home for Spring Festival, when millions of migrant Chinese workers leave Beijing, Shanghai, and other big cities where they work most of the year to spend that one precious week with their families.

As usual there are lines way down the block of hopeful train ticket buyers who must arrive before the sun rises to have a decent chance of getting a ticket. Forget getting a bed for that 20+ hour journey, either--it's a seat if you're lucky, standing if you're not, and no ticket at all if you're screwed.

I wasn't sure that this year it would be as crowded as last, however, since I'd heard a lot of people were going home earlier since the economic downturn was killing off jobs more quickly and people had no reason to stay. From the looks of it that sentiment ain't true--or there's just no such thing in China as a slow travel season during the Chinese New Year.