Chinese Spend Lunar New Year Eve with Smiles And Cheerful Tears

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Chinese Spend Lunar New Year Eve with Smiles And Cheerful Tears

It is the unusual time for the world's largest population who eye the Year of Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar as a year for greater advancement.

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Chinese Spend Lunar New Year Eve with Smiles And Cheerful Tears (3)

It is the unusual time for the world's largest population who eye the Year of Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar as a year for greater advancement.

The lunar New Year Eve arrives Monday and it will usher in the traditional Spring Festival, which is featured with family reunions throughout the country, as well as fireworks, songs and smiles.

However, poor people are shedding cheerful tears when they receive charitable donations from the government and the public on this special night.

"The horse is a legendary animal in Chinese tradition," said sociologist Wang Yongyu, "it represents great courage, fast speed, and the unbelievable confidence in overcoming difficulties."

Chinese Spend Lunar New Year Eve with Smiles And Cheerful Tears

As they did in the past years, most Chinese fixed their eyes on the TV screen for an annual grand artistic show sponsored by the China Central Television (CCTV) Monday night.

"Though they made little renovation to the 19-year-old and four- hour-long show, most families have got used to it and regarded it as a festival custom," said Xiao Wang, a viewer. The CCTV estimated that over 800 million people have "eaten the big meal" filled with jokes, acrobatics, Beijing Opera performances, dances and songs.

On the stage, artists enthusiastically recalled China's remarkable achievements in 2001, including hosting the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, entering the World Trade Organization (WTO), and winning the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

However, more people especially the young and the wealthy have chosen to spend the lunar New Year Eve outside their houses, and even outside their hometown or outside the country. Reports say that at least 400,000 people from inland China have found their way into Hong Kong for the Spring Festival holidays, with a lot of them flying to Europe and Australia.

Chinese Spend Lunar New Year Eve with Smiles And Cheerful Tears (2)

In the southern province of Guangdong, more people had banquets in Western style restaurants rather than sat at home table eating traditional Jiaozi or dumplings.

The Spring Festival is the most important holiday for the 1.3 billion Chinese. At the Great Hall of the People Monday morning, President Jiang Zemin extended greetings to Chinese people of various ethnic groups, the compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and all overseas Chinese.

The cheerful atmosphere is also prevailing poor families, as the government this year pays special attention to those in poverty. In Beijing alone, 30,000 laid-off workers have all received food and pensions prior to the Spring Festival.

In the northeastern city of Changchun, artists held a charitable artistic performance Monday for the poor. Gu Xiaoqing, 11, a leukemia patient, sang a song to express her thanks to the kind people who have donated her 200,000 yuan (24,000 U.S. dollars) during the past four years.

"The Spring Festival to me means a new beginning," said the girl, tears rolling down on her face.

In Guangzhou alone, 100,000 people left the city Monday to go back home by train. About 98 percent of the trains have reached their destinations on time nationwide, according to the Ministry of Railways.

In Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the market is brisk. Luobo, a Tibetan, said that he had just bought a TV set so that he could view Spring Festival repertoires.

In some villages, the WTO has become a novel and hot topic at family gatherings. Yang Zuli, a farmer in cental China's Hubei Province, told Xinhua that he worried about the prospect of the wheat market, however, his village fellows have made up their minds to plant more vegetables, fruits and strawberry to maintain a stable income.

"There might be hardships and tears in the Year of Horse, and the world will be more like a maze, but I still feel optimistic," he said.

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