Feature: It is a long way to Grandma's house: China goes home

Looking around the carriage, Wang Xintong struggles to contain her excitement. The 8-year-old is on a train heading back to her hometown for New Year celebrations.

Her joy turns to fatigue after just a few minutes, and the 2,000-kilometer journey before her promises nothing but monotony.

"I'm suffocating in here! I don't want to be on the train anymore," she frets to her father, Wang Xiangquan.

"Daddy used to have to stand for over 20 hours going home on the train," he says. "Just have a little patience."

Xintong is one of the millions of children "lucky" enough to accompany her migrant worker parents who work far from home. Many other children are left behind with grandparents and see their parents only once or twice each year.

HOME SWEET HOME

Daddy is a van driver. Mummy works at a factory making water pipes. Xintong has been almost constantly on the move with them since she was three. Currently, they live in Fuzhou City 40 hours away from the rest of their family in Chongqing.

Xintong shares a single 20 square meter room with her parents, dominated by an ancient 21-inch television. Two beds and a makeshift wardrobe comprise the rest of their belongings. This is Wang Xintong's whole world.

"She locks the door and plays on her own after school," her mother, Yu Gaifen, told Xinhua.

When asked how many friends she had in Fuzhou, the girl gave what appeared to be an OK sign.

"Three?"

"Zero."

Moving five times in five years, it has been hard for her to make any friends. Though entitled to attend local schools, it can be difficult for outsiders to fit in.

"I don't understand the games my classmates play at school. I don't like being with them," Xintong pouted.

Her happiest time is now, Spring Festival, when her parents take a break from work and she can see her friends at "home."

TRAVELLING HOPEFULLY

It is a long journey. First they take a bus to Fuzhou railway station, then they pack themselves into a train specially laid on for migrant workers. The train has a seating capacity of 1,700, but will carry over 2,500 passengers, so about a third of them will be standing for the next 28 hours, or will perch precariously on stacks of luggage.

Every passenger is carrying armfuls of New Year gifts, and the overloaded, over-heated train is as comfortable as it sounds. But no one complains much: Everything can be tolerated on the way home!

After some fitful sleep, the bleary-eyed family stumble off the train in Dazhou City where they wait 5 hours for another train to Liangping County where they spend the night, before taking a bus to their final destination, Hongqi village.

The family's 40-hour journey is nothing special at this time of year. Most of China's 270 million migrant workers are heading home, and the Ministry of Transport expects people to make 3 billion trips around New Year this year. For many, seeing their families is a once-a-year event.

As soon as she gets off the bus, Xintong rushes into her grandma's arms. Grandpa Wang Yiping has taken a day off to welcome them. At 64, he still works in a restaurant in the neighboring town.

LESSONS OF HISTORY

Wang Yiping became a migrant worker in 1985, and has worked all over the country. At age 14, Xintong's father quit school to join him.

"Nobody here was looking after him, so we had no other option," the old man said.

Xintong's parents are adamant that their family history will not repeat itself.

"Xintong once said that she wanted to be a migrant worker when she grew up. I said no way," Yu recalled.

"We want our daughter to go to college some day," said Wang Xiangquan. "We are working hard to save money for her education."

Wang Xiangquan plans to continue the itinerant lifestyle for another five years and then start a farm, raising chicken and sheep in Liangping. By then, Xintong will have finished primary school and can go to the same school as her friends at home. Endi