As workers across China have started returning to their families in recent days to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 8, a palpable anxiety has shrouded the festivities. Jobs are drying up in the cities, and workers are returning to rural homes that offer even worse prospects. As WSJ's Chun Han Wong reports:

Qian Yuqing, a migrant from the northern region of Inner Mongolia, is among the millions journeying home ahead of China’s most important holiday. After some 32 hours and nearly 1,300 miles in a cramped train seat, the 55-year-old cut a bedraggled figure as he settled into the back of a packed...