Man Can’t Buy Spring Festival Train Ticket, Protests Naked

Every year around the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival holiday period, a phenomenon called 春运, Chun Yun, occurs. Chun Yun roughly means “Spring Festival Rush” and it a hectic time where hundreds of millions of Chinese around the country wait in line to buy tickets to get on packed trains to go home and visit family for the biggest Chinese holiday of the year. Every year, the news is the same: Tickets are notoriously hard to obtain for many due to internal corruption by railway officials and workers as well as ticket scalpers, frustrating many Chinese travelers. The worst stories involve being first in line yet being told that tickets are already sold out, or the ticketing windows opening for only a few customers before closing again claiming that tickets are all sold out.

From NetEase:

Man runs naked through train station, denounces station master, protests difficulty of buying train tickets

January 19th, Chen Weiwei works in Bailongqiao Town of Jinhua City’s Wucheng district in Zhejiang province. In a fit of anger because he was unable to purchase a train ticket to return to his hometown of Shangqiu in Henan province, he stripped off his clothes and began streaking naked through the ticket purchasing hall before going to the station master’s office where he took off his clothes and streaked again, demanding that the deputy station master responsible for the running of the trains provide an explanation.

Comments from NetEase:

网易河南省郑州市网友:

“If I don’t show you, you won’t know that I am a real man!”

网易河北省石家庄市网友:

What Ao Yun [Olympics], Ya Yun [Asian Games], da yun [Universiade], they’re all passing clouds, only the Chun Yun we care about! The once in a year Spring Festival yun dong hui [athletic competition, to get train tickets home]!

网易广东省广州市增城市网友:

The station master thinks to himself: Why can’t it be a woman?

网易河北省保定市网友:

Well done! These days, some cadres [government officials] are really fucking infuriating [pissing off the people]!

网易天津市网友:

Niubi.

网易山东省济南市网友:

It is also very unfair for the station master, thinking: It’s like this throughout the entire country…

网易广东省东莞市网友:

One must learn to control their temper, [he] doesn’t have any proper upbringing. It is because his personality/character that his life is so tiring/difficult. If it weren’t for this kind of personality, I think would not be like he is today needing to buy a train ticket and instead already be on a plane.

网易广东省茂名市网友:

Support, China needs people like this who have the spirit of protest.

网易辽宁省锦州市网友:

That station master standing there constantly fiddling with his mobile phone like an idiot, what’s the meaning of this?

网易甘肃省兰州市网友:

Honestly, seeing this man charge in and get ignored by the station master who even plays with his cell phone, I feel really saddened. What’s the idea~~~?

Comments from Tiexue:

60676067:

Fuck, only now do I discover that [this kind of phenomenon] is not an isolated phenomenon, only that it hasn’t been exposed how black [corrupt, evil] the Chinese train department is. Those with connections don’t even need to line up to get tickets, training/creating a mass of ticket scalpers…

ljl168_0:

The young guy is pretty sexy in his tight underwear.

cuteqiufan:

I looked at the first photo for a long time. Seems like the person on the side is only there to help light cigarettes.

像风:

Sigh, China can do a good job with the Ao Yun [Olympics] but can’t do a good job with the Chun Yun [Spring Festival Rush].

唐伯虎电蚊香:

Not afraid of my post being deleted, just asking that they tell the truth. These are from QQ news.

[The image is a collection of news article headlines from QQ News, reporting China Ministry of Railways statements about when they expect to solve the continuous problem of people finding it difficult to purchase train tickets during the yearly Spring Festival holiday period. In 2007, they said the problem will be mostly solved by 2010. In 2009, they said the problem will basically be solved by 2012. In 2010, they said 2020. This year, they say the problem will no longer exist in 2015.]

lu6bo:

No matter who you are, when faced with the journey home being so close yet so far away, no matter how cool-headed you are, you will still be angered. Hope this brother is able to get home in the end.

英惠王:

Housing is continuously being built, yet there is still a shortage of housing.
Rail lines are continuously being built, yet train tickets are still hard to buy.

时代佣兵:

Such a big JJ, is he erect?

Several days ago, Chinese celebrity blogger Han Han posted a link to this video of a young 17-year-old migrant worker who, like many others unable to get or afford seat tickets, plans to spend 60 hours, 3 days and 3 nights, over 5000 kilometers continuously standing up in a train car to get home for the Chinese New Year holiday:

In the video, the young man is trying to go from Shanghai to Shanshan. At first, he tries to buy a “hard seat” ticket. As he takes out his money, he apologizes for his chapped hands. He works in Shanghai making noodles. The girl interviewing him says he works all year just to be able to have enough money to go home for new year’s, and asks if he is excited that he’s able to get a ticket.

After the ticketing agent says there are no more hard seat tickets, he settles for a standing ticket. Han Han wrote in his blog post that the ticketing agent was very patient and helpful, perhaps because of the video camera’s presence.

The final ticket price for his trip is 438 RMB (~66 USD) and as the ticketing agent gives him his change, the agent advises him to bring along a small stool to sit on if he is able to. The girl interviewing him asks if he has ever had a standing ticket before, and he says he hasn’t but it should be okay because there will be other passengers he can chat with, play card games, and pass the time with. He’ll buy his parents and grandparents some clothes as gifts and wishes them good health.

At the end of the video, while the music plays, the young man says “I finally can go home for Chinese New Year.”

Better reasons to get naked. Personals @ chinaSMACK.