[½»Á÷] ¡¾Pure water¡¿All for a ticket home

People trying to buy a ticket home crowd the railway ticket hall of Xi'an Railway Station in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Jan 5, 2011. Although the peak travel time for Chinese railway doesn't start until Jan 19 this year, people who're eager to get a seat on the train have already started their struggles. During the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, from Jan 19 to Feb 27, about 230 million trips are expected on Chinese railways, 5.75 million a day. Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which starts on Feb 3 this year, is China's biggest holiday, during which people return home to be with family.

People buy railway tickets from automatic vending machines at Shanghai Railway Station in Shanghai, Jan 5, 2011.

Migrant workers wait for trains at Changzhou Railway Station in Changzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, Jan 4, 2011.

People from companies that employ large numbers of migrant workers book group tickets for them at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 5, 2011.

A woman from Zhejiang University of Technology shows tickets she bought for students, at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 5, 2011.