Chinese New Year in the City

Beijing is a large, vibrant city.  Its official population is 17 million, not including the population of migrant workers who often pass undocumented through China's urban centers.  This massive city sprawls 16,801.25 km2 (6,487 sq mi), (compared with New York City, which is 1,214.4km2 (468.9 sq mi)) and as a center for education, politics and business hosts a diverse population of students, workers, bureaucrats and businessmen. 
Most of these people, however, are not from Beijing in the strictest sense; they do not have a Beijing hukou (meaning that they or a parent was born in Beijing and has the right to certain services in the city).  Many have come from other cities and provinces for either work or schooling. 

But for all the crowded streets, congestion, and high costs of living, why come at all?  Large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have drawn young workers, either first as students who are accepted into top universities here, or because of higher paying and possibly more fashionable work opportunities.  Although they may be put off by the high costs of living, people are drawn to the dynamism of the city.  The widespread presence of restaurants, bars, clubs, fashion and consumer culture make places like Beijing and Shanghai very appealing to young Chinese workers and professionals. In addition, for many coming from the countryside, basic living conditions will be much higher in these cities. 
(Note, this is not to say that those seeking a livelihood in Beijing are content with the costs that their lifestyles demands. The opposite is closer to the truth, hence the popular TV series Wo Ju, translated as Dwelling Narrowness, which describes the life of young couples struggling to make a living while paying off their debts in urban China.)

Chinese New Year, which recently passed, is generally a family holiday, and during the week long holiday most people return home.  This means that population pressures in a city like Beijing are released as an exodus of people leaves the city to be with family during the holiday.  Many of the workers here, both blue and white collar, return to their homes outside the city.  In addition, so do a number of Beijingers who trace their roots to neighboring Hebei province. 

For many young Beijingers, Beijing loses its source of life. Shops and businesses close, and even the street-side vendors that sell anything from snacks and vegetables to office supplies have noticeably left the city.  This leaves Beijing with quiet, uncrowded streets absent of the congestion and vibrancy that characterize the Chinese urban experience.