BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Global crisis or not, Chinese retained
their enthusiasm for celebrating the Lunar New Year, which officially began
Monday.
Four girls rehearse for a show
celebrating the Spring Festival in Pengzhou, a quake-hit city of southwest
China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 25, 2009. Quake zone residents in west
China had made their own ways to welcome the Spring Festival, or the
Chinese Lunar New Year. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua) Photo Gallery>>>
More than 68 tonnes of fireworks debris were
collected on the eve of the Spring Festival in Beijing alone.
Beijingers also went on a 639 million yuan (about
85.2 million U.S. dollars) shopping spree, spending 13.4 percent more than last
year.
Not only did 1.3 billion Chinese bask in the festive
atmosphere, some foreign nationals shared their feelings. UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon on Friday sent a message in Chinese, which read: "Happy New Year to
the Chinese people and all the ethnic Chinese all over the world."
A man sticks a paper-cut of Chinese
character of "Fu", meaning "good fortune", onto the window at a cafe to
celebrate the Spring Festival in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet
Autonomous Region, Jan. 25, 2009. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi) Photo Gallery>>>
Foreigners who chose to stay in China during the
festival didn't need to prepare for family feasts, so many set off on domestic
trips or found ways to enjoy folk culture.
MIGRANT WORKER'S WISH
Locals perform folk dances celebrating
the Spring Festival in Pengzhou, a quake-hit city of southwest China's
Sichuan Province, Jan. 25, 2009. Quake zone residents in west China had
made their own ways to welcome the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar
New Year. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua) Photo Gallery>>>
For Huang Teng, 20, from a village in central Hunan
Province, the term "economic crisis" has become only too familiar.
He left Nanling Village and found work in a precision
machinery factory in the southern Guangdong Province three years ago, after he
graduated from middle school.
Huang was earning 2,000 yuan a month when he was laid
off three months ago. "The factory closed because of the economic crisis," he
said.
Statistics from the Hunan Labor and Social Security
Bureau showed that 70 percent of the province's 9.6 million rural people worked
in Guangdong. The bureau predicted that more than 1 million workers would lose
their jobs around the Spring Festival.
Huang had big dreams of starting his own business. He
applied for study in a technical training center. He believed in the Chinese
saying that "sharpening your ax will not delay your job of cutting wood."
He found many business owners had been migrant
workers. For Huang, his New Year's wish is to open a lighter factory, which
would help him earn money and provide jobs for his neighbors.
Hunan announced several policies before the Spring
Festival, including free technology training for migrants and low-rate loans for
entrepreneurs.
FOREIGNERS' GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Monday was more than Lunar New Year's Day. It was
also India's 60th Republic Day.
"Double festivals bring double happiness,"
41-year-old Arvind Chandak, chief executive officer of India Aurobindo
Biopharmaceuticals, said Monday. Arvind stayed in Shanghai for the holidays. He
has lived in the financial hub for 15 years ago, and he's always spent Spring
Festival in China, sometimes traveling around to see different festival folk
cultures.
Five years ago, Aurobindo spent 800 million yuan to
set up a pharmaceutical factory in north Shanxi Province. Exports reached 80
million U.S. dollars in 2008.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore (L) presents
gifts to a kid in Chinese Street to share the happiness of Chinese Lunar
New Year in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 26, 2009.(Xinhua/Jiang
Yaping) Photo
Gallery>>>
"Although China is not at ground zero of the
financial crisis, the Chinese government has shown deep concern for the impact
of the crisis," said Arvind. He added that the government has provided a lot of
help in employee training and low energy prices, which makes him feel confident.
He told Xinhua that his enterprise will try to
achieve 100 million U.S. dollars in exports this year and increase investment in
China in the next three years.
In Shanghai, Indian Consul-General Riva Ganguly Das
said that China has become India's biggest trade partner.
"China and India are strongly complementary, and
together we can turn the economic slowdown into a cooperation opportunity," said
Riva.
CHENGDU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- With red lanterns
hanging from the eaves, the bangs of firecrackers outside, and tables of
delicious food, Chinese people, including millions of quake survivors, observed
the Lunar New Year eve in the traditional way.
In the prefab of quake survivor Hu Suqiong, a dozen
family members gathered at the table on which were traditional local foods such
as preserved ham and sausage. Full story
Chinese President Hu Jintao (C) grinds
soybean to make bean curd as he visits a farmer named Wu Jianzhong and his
family in a village of Xiaping Township, east China's Jiangxi Province,
Jan. 25, 2009, ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, China's most important
holiday for family gatherings. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Photo
Gallery>>>
JINGGANGSHAN, Jiangxi Province, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) --
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the eastern province of Jiangxi on Saturday
and Sunday, calling on revolutionary veterans and model workers ahead of the
Lunar New Year, China's most important holiday for family gatherings.
It was the sixth year in a row that the president
spent the holiday outside Beijing with ordinary citizens. Full story
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) talks to
women of Qiang ethnic group at Maoershi Village, Leigu Township of
Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 24, 2009. Wen
Jiabao came to the quake-hit counties of Beichuan, Deyang and Wenchuan in
Sichuan Province on Jan. 24 and 25, celebrating the Spring Festival with
local residents. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) Photo
Gallery>>>
CHENGDU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao
extended Lunar New Year greetings on behalf of the government and joined holiday
festivities in quake-hit Sichuan Province in southwest China over the weekend.
Wen visited villagers, students, medical workers and
police in Beichuan, Deyang and Wenchuan, which were among the worst-hit areas in
the 8.0-magnitude quake that struck on May 12. Full story
