SHANGHAI, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Although she bagged a hard-earned train ticket home for the Spring Festival's annual family reunion, migrant worker Tu Jiani estimates she managed to spend less than 24 hours chit-chatting with her close relatives during her four-day-vacation.
Falling on Feb. 10 this year, the Spring Festival marks the first day of the Chinese lunar new year, and also traditionally serves as the most important occasion for refreshing family bonds, especially for those who work or live far from home.
More and more young people like the 24-year-old Tu are working and settling down in cities. Tu's hometown in central China's Hunan Province is about 1,177 km from Shanghai, where she works as a waitress.
But for young people who have trekked cross-country to visit their parents, face-to-face conversation with their nearest and dearest may not provide the sweet experience they hoped for after the long journey. With the age gap between parents and their kids increasingly translating into a chasm of different values and expectations in China, more and more young people are having an uncomfortable time during family holidays.
Add to this youngsters' apparent addiction to mobile phones and online social media, and you have a recipe for family discord.
Tu says her vacation was largely spent not sharing quality time with her parents but locked into chatting with friends online, sending digital greeting messages as well as tweeting about the Spring Festival Gala show.
"Immersed in mobiles or online games, some people had little time for communicating with family and remained taciturn," says Tu, her words reflecting a common situation for many young Chinese.
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