With train tickets now on sale for the 2020 Spring Festival holiday in China, the rail network is bracing itself for 440 million trips made nationwide, but the mad rush for tickets means that most of the popular routes are already sold out.
随着中国2020年春节假期的火车票正在销售，铁路网络正在为全国4.4亿次旅行做好準備，但疯狂的购票意味着大多数热门路线已经售罄。
It’s known in Chinese as “Qiangpiao” (抢票), translated in English as “ticket scramble”. To many, it marks an unofficial start to the new year, as they begin their annual preparations for the journey back to their ancestral home.
它在中文中被称为“抢票”，在英语中翻译为“抢票”。 对许多人来说，这标志着新年的非正式开始，因为他们开始了返回祖传家园的年度准备工作。
Yet, the reality of the qiangpiao is a lot of headache for most people. 10 January to 18 February is the official period of Chinese New Year in 2020, and with tickets going on sale 30 days before a train’s departure (online or by phone; 28 days at railway stations, ticket agencies and self-ticketing machines), so this last week has seen the rush begin.
然而，qiangpiao的现实对大多数人来说非常令人头疼。 1月10日至2月18日是2020年春节的正式期间，车票在火车出发前30天开始销售（在线或电话；火车站、售票处和自助售票机28天），所以上周开始了高峰。
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Yet, regional variations abound. A city such as Nanjing, where the majority of the populace is actually from elsewhere, becomes a virtual ghost town during Spring Festival.
然而，地区差异很大。 像南京这样的城市，大部分人口实际上来自其他地方，在春节期间变成了一个虚拟的鬼城。
Therefore, much of the travel is westward before the new year, and eastward afterwards. Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Wuhan, Changsha are the hottest destinations almost every year. As an example, at time of writing, there were virtually no tickets available from Nanjing to Xi’an for 10 January, whereas every train in the opposite direction has seats for sale.
因此，大部分旅行在新年之前向西，之後向東。 重庆、成都、西安、郑州、兰州、武汉、长沙几乎每年都是最热门的目的地。 例如，在撰写本文时，1月10日从南京到西安几乎没有票，而相反方向的每列火车都有座位出售。
Of Nanjing’s eight million residents, approximate five million will leave for the new year, just about 1 percent of the 440 million total that represents the biggest human migration on Earth.
在南京的800万居民中，大约有500万人将在新的一年里离开，只占地球上最大人口迁移的4.4亿人口总数的1%左右。
That’s a lot of people to move out of a city.
搬出一个城市的人太多了。
With everyone well aware of the qiangpiao, for any chance of success in buying a ticket, it is important to know exactly when tickets will start to be sold. As an example the ‘start-to-sell time’ for trains departing from Nanjing Railway Station is 4:30pm, except for some types of trains for which tickets are available all day (including high-speed trains), whereas that at Nanjing South Railway Station is 5:00pm.
每个人都很清楚qiangpiao，为了有机会成功购买门票，重要的是要确切地知道门票何时开始销售。 例如，从南京火车站出发的火车的“开始销售时间”是下午4:30，除了某些类型的火车全天都有车票（包括高速列车），而南京南站的火车是下午5:00。
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Writing for The Nanjinger in 2015, Ann Feng reported, “Because I had class when the tickets I wanted started to sell, my father was going to help me buy a train ticket from Nanjing to Xi’an for 22 January. But at 4:30pm on 24 November, when 12306.cn (the Railway Ministry’s official ticketing website) started to sell tickets, he refreshed the website but surprisingly found out all kinds of tickets had been sold out. As he refreshed the website from time to time in the following 3 days, there were still no tickets. Finally, he spent ¥41 more to buy a ticket for a train from Wuxi to Xi’an, which stops at Nanjing Station”.
2015年，Ann Feng在为《南京人》撰稿时报道说：“因为我想要的票开始卖的时候我有课，我父亲要帮我买一张1月22日从南京到西安的火车票。 但在11月24日下午4:30，当12306.cn（铁道部官方票务网站）开始卖票时，他刷新了网站，但令人惊讶的是，各种票都卖完了。 在接下来的3天里，他不时刷新网站，仍然没有门票。 最后，他又花了41元买了一张从无锡到西安的火车票，该火车在南京站停靠。”
For those who miss that all-important start-to-sell time, Feng advised, “Keep refreshing the website instead of giving up! From 7am every day [until 6pm], 12306.cn lets out some tickets every half an hour [or hour]”.
对于那些错过那个重要的开始销售时间的人，Feng建议说：“继续刷新网站，而不是放弃！ 每天从早上7点[到下午6点]，12306.cn每半小时[或一小时]会出售一些门票。”
China’s national railway operator revealed last week that the 440 million expected rail journeys represents 32.5 million more trips over last year. To provide an increase in capacity, OurJiangsu has reported, “More than 100 additional high-speed train services will be scheduled to operate each night”.
中国国家铁路运营商上周透露，预计4.4亿次铁路旅行比去年多出3250万次。 为了增加容量，Our江苏报告说，“每晚将有100多辆额外的高速列车服务运营”。
