Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009

    BEIJING, Jan. 22 -- Spring Festival is the time when China becomes most Chinese, but many foreigners living in the country are also getting into the spirit of the occasion.

Chinese and foreign residents make Jiaozi during a celebration for the Chinese lunar New Year in a community in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 20, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Xu) Photo Gallery>>>

    For American Tammy Fitter's family, that means joining about 20 other families to pool their money for an entire truckload of fireworks, donning traditional Chinese attire and feasting on a huge holiday banquet.

    "We try to make it as local as possible. That's what we love about living abroad - you take the best things of the country in which you live," says the registered nurse with Beijing International School.

    The family spent three years in Taiwan - where Fritter says the festival's "more like a party" - before moving to Beijing two years ago.

    "It all comes down to family. When you're living abroad, your friends become your family," Fritter says.

    "I hang out with a lot of crazy friends, and we look for any excuse we can find to dress up."

    Her sons, 8-year-old Nolan and 12-year-old Ethan, also believe spending the holiday with friends makes it better as a foreigner.

    "I enjoyed having other people, because we don't have any of our (extended) family out here," Nolan says.

Foreign tourists learn Taiji, also known as shadowboxing, during a celebration for the Chinese lunar New Year in a community in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 20, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Xu) Photo Gallery>>>

    His favorite parts of the celebrations are watching the fireworks and throwing "bangers" (small, harmless fireworks) with other kids.

    Fitter said that while few mainland Chinese attend the gatherings, there are some families from Taiwan.

    "They can help you keep it realistic, they have the stories from their childhoods to add and they can help you appreciate it culturally with a personal twist," she says.

    Before the big bash this year, Fritter's family attended a Chinese New Year block party hosted by Yosemite Villas in Shunyi, where about 400 community members enjoyed food, games and performances.

    "It was a lot of fun, if you participated," Fritter says.

    After Chinese New Year's Day, the family usually attends Beijing's temple fairs, watching performances, munching traditional snacks and playing games.

    American Micah Truman, who has lived in China for 15 years and works for an advertising firm in Beijing, calls Spring Festival "the big family gathering".

    He, and his 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, will spend this Spring Festival with his Chinese wife's relatives in Beijing.

    "Everyone gets together, talks, watches the TV specials, you eat a lot - a lot of food and fireworks - chunjie (Spring Festival) is pretty much just that."