With an aging ridership and canceled routes, China’s intercity buses struggle to survive
“Qidong! Qidong! Going to Qidong? All aboard! We’re leaving…” a female attendant hails me from a bus stop as I step off the No. 115 intracity bus at Huaxin Coach Station in Hengyang, Hunan province. It awakens in me a familiar feeling, both sad and happy: I’ll be home soon, though it’s a bumpy ride of over 110 kilometers or three hours ahead to my home village in Buyunqiao town, Qidong county, usually on a standing-room only coach where people jump on and off along the way.
Last Bus Home: Are China’s Coach Services Doomed? is a story from our issue, “After the Factory.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Tan Yunfei is the editorial director of The World of Chinese. She reports on Chinese language, food, traditions, and society. Having grown up in a rural community and mainly lived in the cities since college, she tries to explore and better understand China's evolving rural and urban life with all readers.
