Thirty-two-year-old Fisherman Han Ping could not contain his excitement when he first saw the brilliant new year dawn at 6:46 a.m. in Shitang, a remote seaside town in east China's Zhejiang Province.

"It is thrilling. I hope the auspicious sunlight will bring our family good future in the new century," Han said.

He told Xinhua he was amazed to find out that his home, built on a high and steep cliff with three sides facing the East China Sea, was the first on the Chinese mainland to see the dawn of the year 2000.

Tens of thousands of visitors began flocking into Shitang after Chinese astronomers announced last November that this little-known town would be the exact spot where the new year sun would first shine.

At the easternmost part of town, Han's home is more than 120 meters above sea level and thus became the first one in Shitang to see the sunrise.

After the announcement was made, Han's family became a magnet attracting great attention from seldom-seen relatives, friends living miles away, farmers from neighboring villages, the leaders of Shitang, and even major media from across the nation.

"I'm overwhelmed that so many people came to visit our family, and it was especially beyond our expectations that reporters from CCTV, the Hong Kong Phoenix TV Station, and other news media also came," Hang's wife, Jiang Sujuan said with a smile.

She recalled that many of her relatives discouraged her from marrying Han five years ago because he lived on a precipitous cliff and there were no neighbors near by.

Indeed, there were few relatives and friends to visit them, and even the neighbors living closest were reluctant to take the long mountainous road to the Hans.

But she said she is lucky that their home was the first one on the Chinese mainland to see the dawn of the year 2000.

Many of the town's people came to extend congratulations to the Hans, but also expressed their envy of the family, because it is said locally that the family first to enter the new year will have good luck and become well-off.

Shitang is more than 1,000 years old, and now has a population of 36,500, most of whom live by fishing, as they have there for generations, and so they see this exceptional moment as a good opportunity to diversify their local economy.

The town covers an area of 16.26 square kilometers, is rich in historic sites, and has many beautiful seaside vistas and scenic spots.

One village head, Wang Hetan, said, "I hope the sunlight of the year 2000 will shine on every local household and bring fortune to them all."