“咱12小时站着也要——回家过年！”

春节已近在眼前。

热闹忙碌的火车站，人们怀揣着思念与期待，踏上回乡的路……

一起来看看春运时的 北京站 ……

Global Times的小编，在北京站和一对父子聊了聊……

▲刘喜父子的背影

Amid a 12-hour journey, there's expectation on the face of Liu Xi (pseudonym) and his son for the long train journey.

12小时的春运回家路，刘喜(化名)和他的儿子有抑制不住的期待。

Liu, a construction worker who has worked in Beijing for several years, stood in front of the Beijing Railway Station with his son. Liu cleaned his son's face and wiped his sweat in Beijing's freezing temperatures, and told the Global Times he hoped to return home early even though he didn't earn much this year.

小编在北京站前拥挤的人流中遇见了刘叔和他的儿子。在寒风中负重奔波的刘家父子，大喘着气儿。我站在两步外看见这位浓眉宽脸的大叔，他好久没剪的头发有点儿硬戳戳往上疯长的意思，给我一种生人勿近的感觉。

说实话，小编当时的内心是纠结的：他看着这么凶巴巴的，我贸然上去搭讪会不会被凶?然而，就在那时，这位扑克脸大叔站在他儿子的对面，用皴裂的大手往自己额头上揩了一把汗，又伸手去摸了摸儿子的脸，擦了擦他鬓角的薄汗…… 那个眼神唷，我现在还记得，是慈父的眼神。

嗯，我知道我上去采访不会被骂了。

The father carried an old plastic woven bag on his shoulder with a similar bag held by him and the son. The bags had a roll of quilt and daily living supplies.

刘叔是一位在北京打拼多年的建筑工地工人。这次回家他带了两大蛇皮袋的行李，每个大约有一米多长，里面装着一卷军绿色的被褥和一些生活用品，看着可不轻。他驮着一袋，另一袋和儿子一前一后地提着。

▲刘喜父子

He said that he bought the cheapest tickets and would spend 12 hours standing all the way to their hometown, Tongliao, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

刘叔告诉我，他们要去售票口买最便宜的站票回家，回家路上大概12个小时。他们的家在内蒙通辽。我问他们，现在临时买票会不会买不上。刘叔说，别担心，站票好买，年年都是这样回的。

"I surely miss home although I like Beijing as well…My mother is working in another city and promised she would buy a secret gift for me," said the son, a grade six student in Beijing.

刘家父子很像，不爱说话，但也好脾气地让我跟着他们，从北京站前的广场到售票处再到他们排队进站。

“你想家吗?”我问。“想。”儿子说。

“你妈妈呢?在家吗?”我问。“她也在外地打工，刚到家。”他说。

“我妈妈答应了给我带礼物!” 他主动说。“噢?啥礼物?” 我问。

“秘密。” 这个在北京上学的六年级男孩儿告诉我。

Liu is just one of the millions of people who are making the trip during the largest human migration on Earth, chunyun, which began on Monday.

刘叔是成千上万春运归家的大迁徙中的一员。春运，被称为一年一度地球上最大规模人类迁徙。

The 2019 Spring Festival travel rush from January 21 to March 1 expects to see about 2.99 billion trips, up 0.6 percent, said Lian Weiliang, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

2019年春运从1月21日开始到3月1日结束，预计将会迎来送往旅客累计发送量达29.9亿，比上年春运增长0.6%， 国家发展和改革委员会副主任连维良说。

Going back to their hometown for the Spring Festival is standard for most Chinese people. As the old saying goes, "We must go home for the Spring Festival, with or without money."

时代在变，气象在变，但中国人每逢春节回家的传统一直没变。 不管是功成名就，衣锦还乡，还是奔波生计，只够养家糊口，就像那句俗话说的，“有钱没钱，咱都要回家过年!”

Beijing recorded temperatures as low as minus 4 degrees on Monday. But crowds of people waited at the Beijing Railway Station to go back home.

那天的北京零下四度，但冻不住游子归乡的心。 ❤