Li Meishi stands on the top of a hill in his hometown in Sichuan Province.Photo: Li Hao/GT

 

Li arrives at the Beijing West Railway Station around 6 am on January 26. Photo: Li Hao/GT

 

Li and his wife board train K819 and start their journey home. Photo: Li Hao/GT

 

Li's wife falls asleep on his shoulder as they sit on a minibus after their 23-hour journey on the train. Photo: Li Hao/GT

 

The couple arrive home at around 10 am on January 27. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Since China's Spring Festival travel rush began on January 24, millions of migrant workers have been leaving major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and heading home to the remote areas of the country for family reunions.

On January 26, a migrant worker named Li Meishi took train K819 with his wife Wu Huiru from Beijing to his hometown in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province - home for many of China's migrant workers.

Located in the province's northeastern mountainous area, Li's hometown is not connected to China's railway network, so they had to take intercity minibuses to get home after a 23-hour crowded journey on the train.

Growing up in the rural part of China, the 42-year-old man has spent almost half of his life making a living in the capital. However, nostalgia always overtakes him when he thinks of his home.

"I'm always so happy every time I think about returning home," Li told the Global Times.

"It hurts each time I have to leave."

When Li and his wife are away from home, the job of taking care of their two children falls on the shoulders of his 74-year-old mother. Li said he calls  his mother every other day as he often worries about her after his father passed away in 2005.

"I have to work for at least another 10 years. I'll return home when my family doesn't need me to make money anymore," Li said.

"I'll buy a motorbike and go wherever I like. There are no traffic jams and smog here. The air is fresh and the sky is blue."

Li said, his wife plans to stay at home after the Spring Festival so she can take care of his mother and their children, the eldest of which will take the college entrance examinations in June.