Before the Spring Festival, whether it is possible to grab a high-speed rail ticket home is a big concern for many "travelers" As soon as the alarm clock rings, both eyes are fixed on the 12306 page, the tip of the finger keeps refreshing, and the speed of the hand can not keep up with the speed of the ticket being empty, the anxiety of "whether to go home for the Spring Festival" arises. However, if you switch the two cities round-trip on the 12306 page, you will find that the reverse train to the big city is quietly offering a surprise: not only is the ticket source, but also the ticket price has a considerable discount. Recently, many reverse high-speed trains before the Spring Festival have released preferential tickets, so "bringing parents to the city the New Year" has become the New Year's choice of more and more young people.

This year's Spring Festival travel, the railway department implemented preferential ticket for some non-tight time, non-popular direction passenger trains. The Yangtze River Delta Railway Department took the lead in action, and implemented ticket price discounts for 6 reverse return trains in multiple non-tight directions before and after the festival. The reverse train from Nanning to Hangzhou has a post-discount ticket price of only 4 yuan, and the reverse train from Quzhou to Jinhua has a ticket price as low as 2.5 yuan. A thin reverse ticket unlocks a new way celebrate the Spring Festival together.

The introduction of discount fares for reverse travel is a warm-hearted move by the railway department that goes along with the people's will Data from China Railway Group shows that the reverse passenger flow of the national railway increased by about 10% year-on-year in 2025. This upward not only effectively relieved the transportation capacity pressure of popular emigration cities such as Beijing and Shanghai during the return-home rush, but also broke the traditional pattern of "unid congestion" during the Spring Festival travel rush, making the tidal flow of the Spring Festival travel rush more balanced and efficient, which can be regarded as a clever way to mobilize transportation. With the introduction of various preferential measures, the reverse routes from third-tier cities to first-tier cities have become a highly cost-effective choice for reunions. The advantages of sufficient ticket supply and affordable prices have made "bringing parents to celebrate the New Year" a new option for many people.
The warming up of "reverse Spring Festival" reflects profound changes in the living conditions and family structures of contemporary young people. Today, a large number of young people work hard in big cities and gradually have a certain economic strength With the increasing mobility of the population, the concept of "hometown" has gradually been sublimated from a traditional geographical concept to an emotional concept that carries family affection. In eyes of many young people, the core of the Spring Festival is not necessarily to "return to that place", but to "reunite with those people". As long as members gather together, even if they make dumplings in a rented house, and even if they do not hear the sound of firecrackers, it is also a perfect New Year Those Spring Festivals spent in a foreign land contain a different kind of tenderness brought about by the development of the times.
The core of the Spring Festival has always been the simple philosophy of "people being at home". With the accelerated pace of urbanrural integration, the elderly also have the confidence to "go whenever they want". Young people who work in big cities have accumulated sufficient economic strength, and the living conditions are to support the warm time of family reunification, making it more realistic to bring their parents to celebrate the New Year together. Hu Xiaowu, the executive director of the Institute Urban Science at Nanjing University, hit the nail on the head: In the past, young people often spent a few days rushing home for the New Year; now, when parents to the city to celebrate the New Year, they can not only have a longer time of reunion but also immerse themselves in the culture and atmosphere of the city. This trend lead to a new consensus on family life in the future.
The rise of "reverse Spring Festival travel" has also opened up new incremental space for the development of urban culture tourism. Many central cities are targeting this trend and launching distinctive New Year's cultural tourism activities to attract outsiders to stay in the city for the New Year. Big cities the core of population inflow, gathering travelers from all over the country, and also bringing the customs of the four corners of the year. When the cured meat of the hometown meets the of the city, when the folk paper-cut window grilles are pasted into the balcony of the city, from the courtyard fireworks to the city's thousands of lights, unique integrated New Year's flavor is born quietly. In 2026, Shanghai will focus on creating activities such as "Travel Choice Shanghai, Super New Year", the "eat, live, travel, shop, and enjoy" resources of each district, and providing diversified New Year's features for citizens and tourists. When the city she its usual fast pace, the warmth between people is infinitely magnified, making the New Year in the city equally flavorful.
Of course, the "reverse Spring Festival travel" has also put forward new questions for the operational service capacity of big cities. Those elderly people local specialties and looking around at the high-speed railway station may not be familiar with mobile phone scanning, online ticket purchasing, or even distinguish the direction of the subway. to make them feel comfortable and convenient in the city? This requires advance resource planning, service optimization, additional offline service windows, and special personnel and volunteers to take the initiative to help At the same time, it is necessary to create new Spring Festival activities that meet the needs of different groups, so that reunion in different places can also be full of the strong flavor the New Year, so that "staying in the city for the Spring Festival" can become more people's active choice.
A discount ticket for the "reverse Spring travel" carries the affection that crosses mountains and seas, and paves the way for the new integration of urban and rural areas. The new service questions brought by the "reverse Spring travel" urgently need urban managers to use more considerate guarantees and warmer measures to protect every bit of affection that comes from all directions. From returning home for the Spring Festival to in the city for reunion, the change of Spring Festival travel is not only the innovation of travel mode, but also the firm step of an era towards more warmth and diversity.
Reunion does not ask about the east and the west, peace of mind is my hometown.