Shanghai Daily news

Zhang Gaoyang: Worker from Luoyang, Henan Province

'If I told them the truth, they would worry about me constantly. '

Zhang Gaoyang finally got on a train leaving Shanghai for Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, at 8pm on Wednesday.

The train was extremely crowded, making it difficult to move around. It took Zhang about one hour to move through two carriages.

He found that nearly 80 percent of passengers in one carriage had to transfer again and again to reach their homes, especially one man sitting next to him who had to transfer four times in two days before reaching his home in Jilin Province.

He arrived at Zhengzhou at 4:30am on Thursday and eventually he learned that it would take at least four hours for the next train to Luoyang to arrive.

He set out to take a bus at 6:30am, praying that the snow would not block the expressway.

Zhang finally reached home about 1pm that day. His mother hugged him tightly, and his father asked him about the journey. Zhang just told them that everything was fine.

"If I told them the truth, they would not only be frightened but would worry about me constantly," said Zhang, who will keep his odyssey a secret from his family.