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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 09, 2002

Chinese Celebrate Spring Festival in New Fashions

The Chinese are celebrating their first Spring Festival since joining the WTO in a new way. The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on February 12 this year.
People can celebrate the festival in many different ways, such as going to temples, celebrating the western Valentine's Day, sending flowers to friends, visiting foreign countries and going to exhibitions.


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Temple Fairs of Western Style in Beijing

Beijing residents usually celebrate their holidays by going to temple fairs, but they now have temple fairs of western style.

Visitors to the Beijing Chaoyang Park can wear masks and dress themselves up in costumes. They can listen to Jazz, dance Latin dances and taste German and Thai dishes.

Yang Weiping, an official in the Chaoyang Cistrict Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, said, "The park is expected to have some 300,000 visitors during the Spring Festival holidays. People are excited at the prospects of having something different."

Flowers Hot for Valentine's Day

Flowers are especially welcome this year as the western Valentine's Day falls during the Spring Festival holidays. In the past two days, the cost of a rose has jumped from 5 yuan (US$0.6) to 12 yuan (US$1.45). A florist says it will soar to 20 yuan (US$2.4) on Valentine's Day. Residents in Hangzhou, a tourist city in east China, have turned from a fashion of burning joss sticks before Buddha to offering flowers. A believer going to the Linyin Temple said, "It does not matter whether you offer flowers or burn joss sticks as long as you stand true before the Buddha. Besides, offering flowers can prevent forest fires."

Electronic Firecrackers

Setting off firecrackers is also a traditional entertainment. Twelve Beijing people this year, however, have taken two strings of electronic firecrackers to the north pole to celebrate the Lunar New Year. A team member, surnamed Cao, said, "This will help us feel at home."

The expedition team is expected to arrive at Longyearbyen, Norway, on New Year's Eve.

Travels to Foreign Countries

Many people are visiting foreign countries during the holidays since procedures for obtaining passports were streamlined after China joined the WTO.

Wang Yanguang, an official with the China International Travel Service, said, the number of Beijing people registered to travel abroad during the seven holidays has increased by 30 percent, with Australia and New Zealand being the most popular destinations.

Culture Activities Such as Picasso Exhibition

Many others in Beijing have decided to spend their holidays going to concerts, visiting the Picasso exhibition, or attending lectures on the WTO at the Beijing Library.

Liu Tieliang, a professor with the Beijing Normal University, said Chinese people are celebrating the traditional festival in a variety of ways, instead of just watching TV which many have done in the past.

"With globalization ahead, the Chinese are rearranging their cultural structure."



Opening the Door to Ancient Tradition

The approaching Spring Festival brings a wind-fall to Chinese folk product manufacturers and dealers with sales of many traditional items; the most popular being red paper banners marked with a big golden Chinese character, fu - meaning good luck.

  • Door Gods

  • Opening directions

  • Threshold


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