Many troubled by crisis, others seeking Lunar New Year fun

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Chinese media) -- As the impact of the global economic crisis begins to hit home, some Chinese white-collar workers see the upcoming Spring Festival celebrations and the lackof steady work as an opportunity to escape from the stress with fun on the road while others are racking their brains to limit daily expenses.

Menaced by the crisis, many Chinese white-collars

have discarded their travel plans during the Lunar New Year holiday to save

money. However, Guan Yiwen and her friends thought otherwise.

"Influenced by the crisis, we are not as busy as

before. Many colleagues plan to ask for a two-week holiday and travel to some

far-off places," said 23-year-old Guan from the Boston Consulting Group Greater

China.

Guan said that when she and her colleagues were

really busy, there was no way to take a leave -- even if they were supposed

toenjoy a holiday. "So now we have a chance and we will take it!"

Guan said she would use some of her time to travel to

some nearby places and spend the rest of the seven-day holiday with family.

Sun Jiong, a 35-year-old business worker at the

Mizuno China Corporation, said he planned to travel with his parents after the

Spring Festival. "Our inland retailing business is still good, andI want to

seize the chance to have some fun before business gets worse."

While white-collars at multinational companies were

influenced in a different way as many Chinese business workers are cutting back

expenses and crouching at home for shelter.

Leo Jin, a native Shanghai resident from

PricewaterhouseCoopersShanghai office, said during this Spring Festival he would

stay home and avoid further spending.

"Most of my out-of-town colleagues planned to go back

home for the holiday too," he said.

While last year's Spring Festival traffic was mixed

with the horror of the unprecedented ice storms, experts believe this year's

travel rush will be boosted by the financial crisis.

Due to a troubled economy, many companies have cut

jobs and dismissed many migrant workers to return home ahead of the Lunar New

Year, which falls on January 26, pressuring the holiday traffic earlier than

usual.

The Railway Ministry expects 188 million people to

travel during the coming travel rush, up 8 percent from last year, with daily

traffic expected to hit 4.7 million people. Some 24 million will take on flights

in January and February.

Earlier reports warned China might witness more job

losses among city workers this year after millions of migrant workers became

unemployed in 2008.

Some laid-off white-collar workers in Shanghai even

set up a Web site called "bujingqi" (which means "not secure") as a place where

troubled workers can talk about their experiences in coping with the crisis and

relieve their pressure.

The site writes "the Web site will be closed when the

Shanghai Index goes back to 6,000 points." "We say it because we want to give

more white-collar workers courage and hopes," Cheng Liang, site co-founder, was

quoted by Shanghai Morning Post as saying.