ASIA LETTER: Liu Bao stands among the massive throng of passengers at Beijing railway station waiting to make his annual trip home.
Even before he boards the train, his belongings in a big brown sack slung over his shoulder, the 32-year-old migrant worker's heart is already in his small mountain abode in Shaanxi province.
Waiting anxiously for him in Weifang village are his wife, Fany Wan, 10-year-old daughter Xiao Xiao, and elderly parents.
China is currently in the middle of the build-up to the Chinese or Lunar New Year.
This is the most important of China's national holidays, celebrated by families right across this vast country.
It is the only time during the year that Liu Bao, and thousands of other "min gong", (as urban Chinese call migrant workers), are able to return home. For the other 50 weeks, Liu Bao works on a construction site in Beijing, labouring 14 hours a day and sleeping rough in a shelter at night.
His goal is to save enough money to send home to feed his family, pay the bills, and ensure his daughter is kept in school.
Liu Bao left home three years ago to cash in on the real estate boom in Beijing after he was laid off from a local state-owned factory. The fact he only sees his family once a year breaks his heart, but he says he has no choice.
He is not alone. Official estimates indicate that 70 million migrant workers are on the move as part of the world's biggest human migration to be home on time to ring in the Year of the Horse on February 12th.
For the migrant workers, forced to find work in the big cities due to downsizing of state enterprises and no income from farming, this year's New Year or Spring Festival travel period started on January 28th and will last until March 8th.
Some 1.74 billion trips will be undertaken by passengers on public transport, 100 million more than last year, over the holiday period.
Thousands of extra planes, trains, and buses have been added to existing schedules to make sure hundreds of millions make it safely home.
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, can be compared with the West's celebration of Christmas. Officially, it is only a three-day holiday, but for millions it will stretch into weeks, especially for migrant workers and students. Already work has ground to a halt in many parts of China. Officially, the workforce has February 12th, 13th and 14th off. But many will work next weekend in order to get the full week.
The department stores in Beijing are crammed with people buying gifts.
The increasing number of Western-style supermarkets are full of shoppers buying food, while restaurants are busy with hundreds of office parties.
Superstitious Chinese families are busy giving houses a thorough cleaning, hoping to sweep away any ill-fortune there may have been during the year and to enhance the possibility of good luck in the 12 months ahead.
Doors and windows are decorated with paper-cuts and couplets with the popular theme of "happiness", "wealth" "longevity" and "satisfactory marriage".
The eve of the Lunar New Year, on February 11th, is the key moment in the celebration and will be suitably observed in China's 300 million-plus households. Supper is a feast with all family members coming together.
One of the most popular dishes will be Jiaozi, delicious filled dumplings boiled in water. Jiaozi in Chinese literally means "sleep together and have sons", a long lost wish for families in China with the one child policy.
After dinners, families will play cards or board games. At midnight, the skies will light up with fireworks and firecrackers, as millions take to the streets to mark the arrival of the New Year.
On New Year's Day, children will receive a red envelope containing money.
People will go from house to house to visit friends and deliver the traditional Spring Festival greeting "Gong Xi Fa Cai", which literally translated means "congratulations. You will be rich".
In cities and towns around China, temple fairs will be held in public parks. Children will eat toffee apples and play traditional games among themselves.
The colour and pageantry has to be seen to be appreciated. In Ireland, the strong Chinese community will celebrate too and honour the Lunar New Year tradition.
But there is another side to the celebrations. Police in Beijing report a huge increase in recent weeks in thefts and petty crime.
It is the same every year. Migrant workers, under pressure to go home laden with gifts and to prove they are doing well, often resort to robbery.
Our two children are looking forward to their "second Christmas" in China.
Bewildered newcomers to Beijing for last year's celebrations, they are now wise to the customs and know that some little red envelopes will come their way in the next few weeks.
They have already been invited to spend the New Year with a Chinese family.
But the price paid for the celebration by millions of men like Liu Bao is considerable.
These next two weeks are precious because once the party is over, it will be back to Beijing for these hard-working labourers, and to separation once again from their loved ones until next year.