Spring surprises

Editor's note: There is a Chinese saying: "No matter rich or poor, get home for Spring Festival." Most people will take gifts for their family members when they return home for the holidays. China Daily reporters An Baijie and Shi Yingying, and photographers Wang Jing, Yong Kai and Gao Erqiang, talked with passengers waiting at Beijing Railway Station, Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station about what kind of presents they have bought for their families.

Jia Gang, a 35-year-old carpenter who makes high-end furniture for a company in Beijing, had purchased two foot massage machines costing 500 yuan ($80) each, one for his parents, the other for his in-laws. Jia, who usually gets back to his hometown in Linfen, Shanxi province, only once a year, had also bought some clothes for his son. The combined cost of all his gifts was more than 3,000 yuan.