Chinese have celebrated the Lantern Festival, the formal end to
the lunar new year festivities, Thursday across the country with
joys after the worst snow disaster in 50 years.
Bright night for remote village
At the festival of family reunion, the villagers of the
Dazhangkeng Village of Jingning She Autonomous County of eastern
Zhejiang Province welcomed the first bright night in three weeks as
power supply to the mountainous village resumed at 6 p.m. on
Thursday.
The cheerful villagers, dressed with the typical black and red
festival costumes, lightened red lanterns, set off fireworks and
made a campfire, dancing around with local power company
technicians who came to repair the power transmission
facilities.
"Thanks to their hard work and the caring of the government, we
can have a bright Lantern Festival tonight," said Zhong Yinglu, a
villager who just gave birth her first child four days ago.
As one of the worst-hit areas in the snow in Zhejiang, the
village, with a population of more than 600, lost contact with the
outside world since the late January with road closed with ice and
power transmission towers collapsed.
"All of us had to depend on candles at night for lighting in the
past three weeks with no power. Besides,it was so cold, and I had
been worrying that my baby could catch a cold," said Zhong. "I'm
relieved now because we can use the electric heater."
Wedding ceremony by power transmission
tower
While millions of snow-hit area residents cheering for a bright
and warm festival, a postponed wedding ceremony for Zhou Fenghua, a
technician with the power supply bureau of Yangjiang City in
Guangdong Province, and his bride, was held at a work site for
repairing power transmission tower.
The couple, who put off their wedding ceremonies for times due
to Zhou's work, vowed in front of the just-reestablished power
transmission tower with the blessing of Zhou's colleagues.
Even with no white wedding dress, nor a diamond ring, nor hugs
and witness of family members, the bride Deng Ting, said she was
the happiest woman in the world today.
The high school teacher traveled hundreds of kilometers from
Yangjiang to the work site located on a hill in a village of
Lianzhou City.
"I'm so glad to hold our wedding ceremony on the Lantern
Festival, also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day," said Deng.
"But what makes the ceremony so special and meaningful is the
venue, as I was told with the power transmission power behind is
responsible for the power supply to more than 500,000 people in
Lianzhou, and I'm proud of my husband."
Safety first on fireworks last show
While in the country's capital, Beijingers were enjoying their
last hilarious fireworks show during the lunar new year days,
lighting up the city's sky with colorful fireworks and scaring the
evils and bad luck away with unrestful huge sound of
firecracker.
Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on fireworks in 2005, allowing
residents to set off fireworks in designated areas during the Lunar
New Year and other important festivals.
However, Setting off of fireworks in areas within the fifth ring
road is allowed only between Feb. 6, through to Thursday's, the day
for Lantern Festival.
He Zhidong, a restaurant owner led his eight-year-old son to set
off fireworks at a residential complex in the Beijing's Fengtai
District, where warning slogans like "to pay attention to safety
while setting off fireworks" were hung around.
"It is a tradition of thousands of years to set off firecrackers
during the Spring Festival for good luck. But this year, I had
asked for more. Not only for my family members here in Beijing, but
also for those who have been suffering from the snow disaster and
the cold weather in the south," said He.
To ensure the safety in Beijing, the city's government has
strengthen the administration of fireworks sales and production,
stipulating that all manufacturers and vendors must be licensed or
face fines and police also increased patrols in urban areas to
enforce the ban.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)