GUANGZHOU: Chen Baoshan's excitement masked his exhaustion when he managed to buy three tickets to his hometown in Hubei province after queuing at Guangzhou station for two days yesterday.

"I never expected buying tickets would be so difficult as Spring Festival is more than three weeks away," said Chen, in his late 20s. He wanted tickets for himself, his wife and his brother-in-law.

"I queued the whole afternoon over the weekend but to no avail," said Chen, who, along with his wife, works for a furniture firm in the Pearl River Delta city of Foshan in Nanhai district, neighboring Guangzhou. "I rushed to the railway station at about 7 this morning. My brother-in-law and I took turns to queue up."