Staying in a hotel during Chinese New Year, is freedom or worry for adults?

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Editor's note】

　　Year after year, the way of celebrating the Spring Festival changes. Since when did the family problem of "go to your house for the New Year or go to my house for the New Year" have a new solution; since when did the social relationships during the Spring Festival have been quietly reconstructed... Year after year, the same Spring Festival continues Witness new phenomena, give birth to new careers, and bring new feelings. China News Network launched the "New Spring Festival Illustrated Book" plan to record the changes in annual customs and freeze the changing China.

　　China News Service, Beijing, February 12 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) Will you choose to stay in a hotel when you return to your hometown during the Chinese New Year? As the Spring Festival approaches, this topic has aroused heated discussion on the Internet. Different from the mainstream way of celebrating the New Year, there are various practical reasons behind staying in hotels during the New Year. Some are because of different living habits and rhythms with family members, some are to save trouble, and some have no place to stay and can only stay in hotels...

　　Is staying in a hotel during the Chinese New Year a freedom or a worry for adults?

  Data map.

Distance creates beauty

Want to be quiet during the holidays

　　As the Spring Festival approaches, Li Lin, who works in Beijing, has already started looking for hotels in his hometown online. During the Chinese New Year in previous years, Li Lin always spent the Chinese New Year at her husband's house with her children. Although there is no barrier between Li Lin and her husband's family in terms of customs, because they have been working and living in other places for a long time, they do not have much in common and their living habits are also different.

　　"The living habits and concepts of the younger generation are very different from those of the elderly. It is okay to stay at home for a short period of 2-3 days. Over time, friction is easy to arise, and distance creates beauty." Li Lin said, and young people now have different consumption concepts. What has changed is that what you should eat and drink in your daily life is not much different from that during the Chinese New Year. When you go home, you must still focus on your own comfort. She said that after being busy for a year, she wanted to take advantage of the holidays to take a quiet rest, and did not want to be the recipient of her family's emotions and parents' antics.

　　"I sometimes have to work overtime during the Spring Festival, but I still have to do various chores when I get home, such as cleaning up, etc., and I am easily disturbed. I can stay in a hotel during the Chinese New Year without affecting my work," she said.

　　During the Chinese New Year this year, Li Lin's family plans to spend New Year's Eve in Beijing and return to his hometown on the second day of the Lunar New Year, treating it as a vacation.

　　It can be noticed that traveling to celebrate the New Year is becoming a new trend this year. According to statistics, as of January 30, hotel bookings in popular cities during the Spring Festival holiday on the Qunar platform increased 3.2 times year-on-year in 2023. The second day of the Lunar New Year is the peak occupancy, and nearly 70% of tourists start their vacation from the second day of the Lunar New Year.

　　Huazhu Group data shows that as of January 29, the hotel booking rate during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday was nearly three times that of last year’s Spring Festival holiday in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Quanzhou, Harbin, Xiamen, Luoyang, Liuzhou, etc. Booking rates in cities across the country have surged during the Spring Festival holiday. In addition to the popular first- and second-tier travel destinations that are as popular as ever, many third- and fourth-tier cities are also experiencing peak hotel bookings during the Spring Festival holiday.

  Data map. Photo by Lu Nan

Don’t embarrass yourself during the Chinese New Year

The hotel is quite free

　　In addition to different living habits and traveling for the New Year, many people stay in hotels to save trouble.

　　Some netizens said that the bed she had at home was a single bed. It could still be crowded when she went home before. But this time she brought her children and the single bed couldn’t fit, so she booked a hotel. She didn’t want to go back and stay for a few days and have her mother have to worry about cleaning up. Room, the whole family can stay in the hotel, feel comfortable and not cause any trouble to the elderly.

　　Some netizens said that the family was out of town and had not lived in the house for a long time. The vacation was only for a few days and they did not want to spend time cleaning up the house. The vacation was for relaxing and recharging, so don't embarrass yourself.

　　Some people stay in hotels out of helplessness. On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Min from Anhui Province had already stayed with his family in a hotel in his hometown county for more than ten days. Celebrating the New Year in the hotel has become the norm for his family in recent years.

　　Chen Min works out of town, and because she has not lived there all year round, the house in her hometown has been sold long ago. Because her living habits are different, she doesn't like to stay at her husband's house for the New Year, but there is no room for her in her husband's house, so she can only choose to stay in a hotel.

　　She said that her family atmosphere is not very good. For her, there is nothing special about the Chinese New Year. She just wants to take a break, do something she likes, go back to her hometown to see old friends, and have a reunion dinner with her family. But the child likes life in his hometown very much and looks forward to returning to his hometown for the New Year every year. Therefore, every New Year, she would come back early with her children to celebrate the New Year.

　　In her opinion, staying in a hotel during the Chinese New Year has no impact, and is actually very freeing.

　　"If you live in your husband's family and don't have a sense of belonging, an only child can still choose to live in your natal family, but some people can't go back to their natal family, so they can only consider hotels." In Li Lin's view, this may be part of the problem. The troubles of married people.

　　In addition, there are some customs in some places. For example, divorced women cannot return to their parents' homes to spend New Year's Eve. Chen Li, who runs a hotel in his hometown town, said that every year during the Chinese New Year, divorced women come to stay at his hotel. In his opinion, with the development of the times, this has long become a bad custom that should be eliminated.

　　The Spring Festival is the festival most closely related to home. Where to celebrate the New Year is not only about a place, but also reflects people’s desire for family and affection. However, with the changes of the times and changes in people’s study, work, and marriage status, where to celebrate the New Year begins? It has become an important family issue and social topic.

　　Everyone has different solutions to this problem, but there is no right or wrong. As some netizens said, no matter where you live, just be comfortable.

　　Where will you celebrate the New Year this year? (At the request of the interviewee, the names in the article have been changed) (End)