How’d ya like to be stuck at a railroad station waiting for a train … with two hundred thousand other people?
I was chatting with a mainland-Chinese friend a little before Christmas. She told me she would be going to China to see her family. Me: “What, you mean for the [Lunar] New Year [=Feb.7]?” She: “Are you nuts? I’ll be out of there before that starts.” Nobody in his right mind would travel in China around New Year if there was any alternative. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, there isn’t. They work far from home; they want to see their families; and this is their only opportunity.
Mrs. D, when I showed her the pictures: “Imagine what a state the bathrooms are in!” Best not to try, perhaps.