Foreigners residing in China on transformation of Spring Festival travel rush

As the Spring Festival approaches, many long-term foreign residents talked to China Media Group about the changes of China's annual Chunyun travel rush they had witnessed in the past decades.

Raul, an Argentine entrepreneur who has been operating a farm in Guangzhou City of south China's Guangdong Province for 15 years, frequently travels between the inland and Hong Kong. For him, high-speed rail has become an essential part of both work and daily life. He said he is impressed by how efficiently the railway system handles the massive holiday traveling crowds.

"So many people. They are getting ready to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families. And they need to take a train. How many trains we have, they are all on time. That's amazing," he said.

Following years of modernization, China's rail system now operates largely paperless, with passengers enjoying services such as quiet carriages, on-board dining, and other digital conveniences.

Craig, a documentary filmmaker from Oregon, the United States, has settled in Shenzhen, Guangdong. He has closely followed China's social development with his lens. During last year's travel rush, he produced a documentary focusing on passengers' luggage - a symbolic window into the annual family reunion.

Having witnessed the shift from traditional locomotives to cutting-edge high-speed trains, Craig noted that the railway's rapid development has also nurtured a growing community of rail enthusiasts.

"I've been at this train station a lot. I come here and go on the train, and I've come here and take pictures. And something that stuck in my mind is, there's a little corridor over there. Every time I walk through there, you always see somebody who's so excited to see the train. And they stay there for as long as they can," he said.

David is a Canadian vlogger who runs a restaurant in Guangdong and has lived in Guangzhou for more than two decades. He also regularly shares his experiences in China online. Reflecting on the railway's transformation, he described the changes as remarkable.

"I have been living in Guangzhou for over 20 years and I am quite familiar with Spring Festival travel rush. From the old green trains to today's high-speed rail, the development has been incredible. Now you can order meals onboard, it is clean, and there are also charging sockets. Everything is convenient," he said.

The launch of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway has further improved connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The journey from Guangzhou to Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station takes less than an hour, making the travel seamless.

"Traveling from Guangdong, in under an hour, you are in West Kowloon Station, downtown Hong Kong. It is incredibly convenient. I will definitely be taking this train many more times and bring my friends together," he added.

Foreigners residing in China on transformation of Spring Festival travel rush

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday urged China and France to make joint efforts to safeguard the status and role of the United Nations and prevent the world from reverting to the "law of the jungle."

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the appeal during talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Wang said that the successful first China-France-Germany trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, held on Friday, sent a positive and constructive message to the world.

Amid the changing and turbulent international landscape when multilateralism is under attack, the three major countries should stand together to uphold the purposes of the UN Charter, the true multilateralism and the free trade system, and provide more positive energy to the world, Wang said.

Since French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to China late last year, bilateral relations have maintained a positive and dynamic momentum, with various departments following up on the outcomes of the visit, and exchanges and cooperation across various fields gathering pace, Wang said.

The two sides should chart the course for the next stage of exchanges, constantly enhance mutual understanding and trust, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang added.

Both China and France are independent and responsible major countries, and multilateral coordination is an important feature of their bilateral relationship, Wang said, urging both sides to address the deficit in global governance and support each other's multilateral initiatives.

For his part, Barrot said that Macron's successful visit to China last year led to in-depth strategic communication and a series of important common understandings between the two leaders.

France attaches great importance to China's status and role as a major country and firmly adheres to the one-China policy, Barrot said.

He expressed France's willingness to work with China to follow through on the consensus reached by the two leaders, strengthen institutional dialogue across various fields, deepen mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation, and properly handle frictions through dialogue and consultation.

Barrot noted that as France holds the G7 presidency and China hosts APEC this year, France looks forward to maintaining close multilateral communication and coordination with China, working together to address critical issues such as global governance.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the Iranian nuclear issue.

Chinese FM urges China, France to work together to prevent world from reverting to "law of jungle"