A child waves goodbye to his parents in Fuzhou Railway Station in August 2012. Each year, some left-behind children in China will travel a long way during the summer break to reunite with their parents who have moved to cities for work. Photo: VCG

A woman sees her child off at Dongguan East Railway Station in Dongguan, South China’s Guangdong province, in 2014. These children, also called “little migratory birds” in China, usually head back home for the school semester around late August each year. Photo: VCG

Children pass through the platform of a train station Monday in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province. Many students returned home early this year as some schools have required them to return 14 days before the start of school as a Covid-19 prevention measure. Photo: VCG

Left-behind children, led by their relatives, prepare to board a train to visit their parents on July 3 at Fuyang Railway Station in Fuyang, East China’s Anhui province. Photo: VCG

A child and her parent prepare to board a train at a station in Hangzhou in August 2019. Photo: VCG

Left-behind children board a train in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province, to return home in August 2018. Photo: VCG

Primary school students walk past a field in a village in Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality in March 2016. Photo: VCG

Left-behind children holding their family pictures pose for a group photo in Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu province, in January 2021. Photo: VCG