Wang Hong, a native of Henan Province working in the southern province of Guangdong, was an early bird and good planner: he booked a train ticket for the New Year trip home almost two months in advance, but two days before he was scheduled to leave, his boss sent him to Beijing for a meeting. The train ticket was wasted and he had to spend three times as much money to fly home from Beijing.
In comparison, Old Su's homecoming trip is more flexible. Su, 45, is one of at least 400,000 motorcyclists who travel from Guangdong to their hometowns in the neighboring provincial regions on two wheels.
Su's trip home to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is at least 621 miles and took him 37 hours this year.
He, too, struggled before the homecoming trip. "I might have failed to make it," he said.
A truck driver for a small furniture plant in Foshan City, Su was unable to collect his wages for the past three months until last Friday.
Su's boss owed him more than 7,000 yuan (1,066 U.S. dollars), an amount he needed desperately to cover his wife's medical expenses, who was suffering from anemia and gall-stones.
He made repeated phone calls to the boss pleading for his wages, but to no avail. He sought help from Xinhua reporters, who reported his troubles to the local government. With the government's intervention, the boss paid him 5,000 yuan, and promised to pay the rest of his wages after the holiday.
Su readily accepted. "The boss is having a hard time, too. Business was bad and he was not making money. Three times last year, the landlord cut electricity because the boss was unable to pay the bills."
Su thought he was lucky to get paid and even hummed a tune when he got packed and jumped on his second-hand Yamaha.
His son, 18, refused to ride with him, knowing Xinhua reporters would accompany him throughout the trip.
"He thinks it's a shame to be poor and fears people might recognize us if we appear in newspaper or TV news," said Su.
His ride home was bumpy and dangerous. To save time and money, he left at 5 a.m. Saturday and rode continuously for nearly 20 hours before a few hour's stay at an inn motel for 80 yuan.
He arrived home in a landlocked village of Guangxi's Daxin County Sunday evening, exactly a week before the New Year's Eve.
Su said he has two dreams in his life: to drive a motor vehicle and to build a new house. "My first dream has come true, but a new house is still far away."
To build a new house, even in his impoverished village, costs at least 100,000 yuan, an astronomical amount for Su and his wife, who have very little savings.
"But dreams make our lives worth living, right?"
