Travelling in continental China during the Chinese New Year?

How hard it is to get train and bus tickets during the period around Chinese New Year. I've understood that the
weekends around 7th of February (Chinese New Year in 2008) this year might be next to impossible to
use overland transport. When is it possible to move around again or
will the tickets be hard to acquire for a longer period of time around the New Year?

Traveling in China during the Spring Festival is no problem if you have money! If money is a concern, then be prepared to test your patience and learn to smile! Anything is possible in China if you know how to beam with happiness and light up with a smile instead of becoming hostile and upset! It will be a wonderful adventure! Plenty of maggots here trying to score points, so watchout!

I traveled within China last year in February during the New Year and didn't have any problems at all finding bus or train ticket, or hotel rooms. Actually, most people will travel to their hometown just prior to New Year, then stay home or at relatives during the New Year celebrations. For train, all hard sleepers will be probably already gone if you don't book in advance, but you will always be able to get either a hard seat (cheapest) or a soft sleeper (most expensive).

Traveling the day before the holiday starts or on the New year is always easy and there's rarely anyone on the train.

Look at the crowd, when holiday starts everybody take bus and train home. Then everybody rush back to work. To be more specific, you need to tell what direction you plan to travel and what date. It is recommended to book as soon as you fix your plan.

WOW, Chinese Spring Festival is CrAzY, I have been here for several years now and ground travel does not get any easier, in fact more CHinese people travel during the holiday than the entire population of the USA