Shi Ying won't be making the traditional pilgrimage back to Shanghai to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday with her extended family. That new custom lets her family bypass the mobs, clogged roads and subways, lousy customer services - and boredom - that can mark holidays at home. "Going overseas during the Spring Festival costs about the same as going to some domestic tourist spots." The essence of China's seven-day holiday, also called Spring Festival, is morphing as rising incomes and an expanding network of international flights prompt more people to go abroad. More than 414 million Chinese will ride in planes and trains.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 25, 2017 16:06 UTC