ĦĦĦĦBEIJING, May 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Rambling bicycles and colorful kitesinstead of
overloaded trains and planes hurrying to popular scenicspots and relaxing family
banquets instead of overcrowded shoppingmalls.
ĦĦĦĦChinese citizens eschewed the traditional holiday rush for a relaxed May
Day, the first day of a five-day holiday blighted by the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS).
ĦĦĦĦIn a bid to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the usual seven-day holiday
was cut to five days and many Chinese decided to stay home or stroll around
their communities.
ĦĦĦĦA resident in the Chongwen District of the Chinese capital of Beijing said
he and his cousin in Haikou, capital of China's southeast island province, chose
the same way to spend the holiday:"We stayed home, reading, surfing on the
internet, walked around with family members and cooked delicious meals to
celebrate the holiday."
ĦĦĦĦMiss Wang, who works for a company in Beijing's hi-tech Zhongguancun area,
spent the whole day in Yuanmingyuan Park enjoying the fresh air. "We used to
bargain and do some window-shopping in the department stores in the holidays,"
Wang said, "but I think that relaxing with nature is also fun."
ĦĦĦĦ"People's common sense and their trust give me confidence we can win the
war against the SARS epidemic," said acting Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan.
ĦĦĦĦHe said the government would do its utmost to control the disease in the
seriously affected municipality as soon as possible.
ĦĦĦĦMany Chinese people living in other cities also enjoyed the holiday
locally.
ĦĦĦĦMr. Xiang, a staff member of a travel agency in Suzhou, a scenic city in
east China, devoted the day to playing an Internet web game.
ĦĦĦĦAccording to the Ministry of Agriculture, prices of major farm products in
large-scale wholesale markets over north China were stable and even decreased a
little, good news for Mrs. Zhang in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi
province.
ĦĦĦĦ"We will not travel during this holiday so I don't need to buy more food
for the family," Zhang said, surprised by the variety and lower prices in the
market.
ĦĦĦĦBut many people have to work over the holiday.
ĦĦĦĦDrivers and conductors running nearly 20,000 buses in Beijing and medical
workers fighting SARS in the city will get no holiday this year.
ĦĦĦĦ"Take care and I'm waiting for you to come back home," said Wu You to her
father, a busy doctor in the You'an Hospital, during aninterview.
ĦĦĦĦShe hoped the television would carry her best wishes, and thoseof all
Chinese people, to health-care workers over the country. Enditem
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