Passengers waiting to board trains in a railway station during the Spring Festival travel rush. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

This year, a growing number of China’s post-80s and post-90s generations will ask their parents to travel to the cities where they work for a family reunion, rather than pouring out of China's cities to visit their hometowns during the Spring Festival, in a new trend called reverse Spring Festival travel.

The reason behind this trend is simple. It's difficult to acquire a train ticket or an expensive plane ticket out of major cities during the Spring Festival travel rush, which is known as the largest annual human migration on earth.

Statistics from China’s online ticket booking services including its largest, Ctrip, show that 10 big cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the most popular destinations. The number of air ticket bookings one week before Lunar New Year’s Eve to these cities is expected to increase by more than 40 percent year-on-year, with the price of some airfare tickets currently showing as lower than many high-speed trains.

Families will also be able to enjoy a different Spring Festival experience thanks to the reverse travel rush.