About 4,000 Chinese people from all over the country flooded into the world's largest Tian?anmen Square Tuesday morning to celebrate the first day of lunar new year, or the Year of Horse.
They arrived at the square to watch the national flag raising ceremony, which is always regarded as a formal ritual during festive occasions.
Yan Yingying, junior student at a Beijing university, said that she participated in the two giant celebrations on the square when Beijing won the bid for hosting the 2008 Olympics and the Chinese national football team got to the World Cup finals for the first time.
Xu Dongqing, a worker from central China's Henan Province who also viewed the flag-raising ceremony, said that his family telephoned his grandfather who is now residing in Taiwan on the new year eve. He said he hopes the motherland could reach re-unification as soon as possible. Li Jing, a young woman from northernmost Heilongjiang Province who specializes in international trade, dressed herself in a traditional Chinese way. She said that China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) would provide her with more job opportunities.
In Shanghai, China's most important commercial hub, Shopping malls are decorated in a Chinese way. People could easily buy red lanterns, red firecrackers and the red Chinese character "fu", which means good luck, in streets.
Many stores in downtown Shanghai competed with each other on couplets which were hung on front gates of themselves.
Store owners in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, more preferred red Chinese knots, which means fortune and wealth in the Chinese culture, as best decorations.
International fast-food giants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's also hung red knots and red lanterns to attract Chinese customers.
However, residents in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, favored Chinese fast-food such as Jiaozi, or dumplings. Preparing for family dinners, they bought bags of frozen dumplings, which means family reunion.
Many young people on the Hainan Island carried out outdoor activities with their families. Driving cars to scenic spots alongside the island's seashore.
Local transportation authorities estimated that tourists throughout the country would drive more than 6,000 cars to tour the island during the Spring Festival holidays.
Chinese people usually celebrated the holidays with family dinners. Hundreds of restaurants in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, tried all out to attract local residents.
Well-off urbanites often eat out in restaurants and could enjoy various dishes with Chinese or foreign flavors.
(People?s Daily February 13, 2002)
