INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightChina News ServiceImage caption
Should children be seated in a different compartment from child-free
adults
As millions of people travel on trains across China in order to celebrate the new year, they are asking: "Should
trains have children's compartments" The hashtag #ChineseNewYearTravel2019 has been viewed more than 879 million times on Weibo where
thousands of people are debating the issue
China's flagship radio station (CNR) discussed the question on air.A senior official at the China Railway Corporation, Huang Xin, thinks
the idea is very creative
Billions travel for Chinese new yearNearly three billion trips - including train, road, air and boat - are expected to be completed between
Jan 21 and March 1 this year, with 413 million of those by rail, according to China media
With so many people moving across the country at the same time it is perhaps inevitable that social media users are discussing ways to make
travelling as stress-free as possible
Image copyrightVCGImage caption
People are divided over whether there should be a separate compartment for children on
trains
According to the Chinese newspaper People's Daily, separate compartments for children has attracted a lot of
journey.'Bear children' Some support the idea, saying "what most people are afraid of on a train is noisy bear children"
A "bear child" is a common Chinese slang phrase meaning a child who is spoilt
The use of the word "bear" in this instance suggests some people in China think some children on trains can act in a feral way
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
There's an emerging generation of "bear children" (children who lack discipline)
in China
The comment "a carriage full of 'bear children', I can't even imagine" gained more than 4,000 likes on Weibo
child had people to play with
One says that there's room to discuss partitioning trains for family areas, adult-only areas, and private mother and baby areas
Children's compartments already exist in Germany
Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) offers a Mutter/Klein Kind (mother and small child) compartment in their newest trains
You may also like:But many think the idea is ludicrous
One says it is a "lazy" solution, and that "parents should be teaching their children public etiquette"
Another agrees, saying "it doesn't make sense, nor improve the quality of people." One Weibo user says: "I don't support this! If I have
children in the future, I don't want to have to sit in that carriage!"Some joke that it's a hark back to Cultural Revolution times, with
one asking whether landlords should be segregated in their own carriage too
Analysis: Kerry Allen, TheIndianSubcontinent MonitoringPerhaps bizarrely, there have been a lot of stories in China's media in recent
months, stressing that there's a demand for better controls on Chinese trains
This started with a spate of incidents involving "seat robbers" going viral
Travellers began flagging up badly behaved people refusing to move out of seats belonging to other people, and social media users jumped on
the bandwagon sharing videos that they had seen of bad behaviour leading to nationwide shaming.At the same time, there has been a lot of
dialogue in recent years about an emerging generation of "bear children" - children who are raised with no discipline, and misbehave at will
The one-child policy has been partly to blame for parents spoiling their only children and leading them to believe they can get whatever
Newspapers recognise that it is a modern phenomenon, and similarly, videos have circulated online shaming the parents of "bear children",
and commentaries often appear debating how such children can be properly dealt with.China Railway Corporation's Huang Xin, said she always
welcomed new ideas being put forward to the rail services
"(Translated from Mandarin) Whether or not it's necessary to concentrate noisy children in one compartment, all public transport faces a
"There are people suggesting that those who like to watch films or listen to music should be concentrated in one department
These suggestions provide inspiration for the improvement of the public transport sector, but also bring new challenges about how we can
further improve and refine the services of public transportation."
