Today, motorcycles are gradually withdrawing from some rural areas in our country

"I originally thought that after China optimized its epidemic prevention and control policies this year, there would be more motorcycles returning home. Now it seems that the 'motorcycle army' will fade out of the Spring Festival travel history." Guangxi Wuzhou City Public Security Bureau Traffic Police Detachment Expressway Zou Dan, instructor of the Third Highway Management Brigade, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Service.

Zou Dan has participated in the "Motorcycle Army" Spring Festival transportation service guarantee for more than 10 consecutive years. She, Li Ziyu and Li Jinlan have been going to the Spring Festival Transport Service Station at the East Exit of Wuzhou City, Guangxi every year for more than ten years to serve the passing "motorcycle army" returning home.

In 2008, Li Ziyu, then deputy captain of the Wuzhou Traffic Police Detachment, was responsible for coordinating and organizing the establishment of a Spring Festival travel service station at the interprovincial checkpoint of National Highway 321.

The young riders who enjoy riding motorcycles back home stopped at the Wuzhou East Spring Festival Transport Service Station to take photos.

Li Ziyu said that migrant workers in Guangdong began to drive motorcycles back to their hometowns around 2000. At that time, motorcycles with several thousand yuan each entered ordinary Chinese families. Because train tickets were difficult to buy, migrant workers He had no choice but to drive his motorcycle back home. In 2008, the "motorcycle army" began to take shape. That year, 70,000 motorcycles passed through Wuzhou and returned home for the New Year.

“As a result, a special cultural phenomenon related to the return of motorcycles has formed on National Highway 321. Traffic police provide certificate renewal services, companies set up recruitment sites, and cultural departments write Spring Festival couplets on site and send them away. For riders, there are also touching stories that happened at the service station,” Li Ziyu said.

Zou Dan is serving motorcyclists returning home.

"While serving the motorcycle army, I encountered something that moved me very much." Zou Dan said. On January 21, 2014, Qin Yueling, who was pregnant and lived in Dali Town, Teng County, Guangxi, and her husband were returning home on a motorcycle. When they passed the Spring Festival Transport Service Station at the east exit of Wuzhou City, they were knocked to the ground by a van. Qin Yueling, who saved her fetus due to the timely rescue of Zou Dan and others, took a car driven by her husband to visit Zou Dan at the Wuzhou East Exit Spring Festival Transport Service Station five years later.

Like Zou Dan, Li Jinlan, an employee of Sinopec Guangxi Petroleum Wuzhou Branch, also felt a lot of emotion. She has been serving returning motorcycles here for 20 years, and has served more than 50,000 "motorcycle armies".

Both Zou Dan and Li Jinlan took their children to the Wuzhou East Exit Spring Festival Transport Service Station to serve as volunteers. "In the past, many children returned to their hometowns with the 'motorcycle army', but we have not seen them in recent years," Li Jinlan said.

Li Jinlan was interviewed by a reporter from China News Service.

Zhang Shuyong, who lives in Guangming Village, Shepo Town, Guiping City, Guangxi, once used a motorcycle to take his children back home. "This year both children took relatives' cars home." Zhang Shuyong said. He and his wife Xue Huanfang have been riding a motorcycle back home from Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City for eight consecutive years. On January 16 this year, he parked his motorcycle at the Wuzhou East Exit Spring Festival Transport Service Station to rest.

Like Zhang Shuyong, Li Rufa, who lives in Su Mao Village, Guancheng Town, Pingnan County, Guigang City, Guangxi, is also a member of the motorcycle army. "In the past, when the Spring Festival was approaching, many fellow villagers would meet up and drive motorcycles home from Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. Now they have all bought cars." Li Rufa told reporters that his two children are about to graduate from college. "If I work hard for another two or three years, I will also buy a car." Li Rufa said.

Li Ziyu said that among the riders who still choose to drive motorcycles back home, there are fewer and fewer riders like Zhang Shuyong. Most of them are young riders who regard returning home on motorcycles as a kind of fun. Li Jianhang from Guigang is such a young man. He drives a large-displacement motorcycle with the purpose of enjoying "wind and freedom."

The young riders who enjoy riding motorcycles back home stop at the Wuzhou East Spring Festival Transport Service Station to rest. Photo by Jiang Xuelin

Li Jianhang has been working in Foshan City, Guangdong Province for 10 years. His father was also a member of the "Motorcycle Army". With many years of hard work in Dongguan City, he finally bought a car in 2021. Li Jianhang said: "Although my family has a car, I don't want to drive it. I have the freedom to ride a motorcycle and have fun all the way."

Zou Dan said that the increasing number of trains operating has diverted the "motorcycle army".

The Nanguang and Guiyang high-speed railways were opened at the end of 2014. During the Spring Festival in 2015, only 41 pairs of trains were driven between Guangxi and Guangdong every day. In 2023, there will be more than 200 pairs of trains. As the railway's transportation capacity gradually increases, the "motorcycle army" also decreases year by year. During the Spring Festival, the number of motorcycles passing through Wuzhou and returning home for the Spring Festival peaked at 250,000. This year, only 10,000 motorcycles are expected to pass through Wuzhou and return home for the Spring Festival.

Twelve years ago, reporters witnessed the "grand occasion" of the "motorcycle army" returning home at the Wuzhou East Exit Spring Festival Transport Service Station. Today, Li Jinlan and Li Ziyu, who served the "motorcycle army", have also retired. The "motorcycle army" will also fade out of the public eye. Zou Dan said: "In the past two years, the Wuzhou City Traffic Police Department has no longer regarded the 'motorcycle army' as a key service target for returning home during the Spring Festival. The focus of the traffic police's work has gradually shifted to the surrounding intersections of high-speed rail stations and highway toll stations."