BEIJING, Jan. 27 -- China's New Year Spring Festival is undergoing a metamorphosis.

    Although many Chinese citizens still follow the old customs like holding rituals for the agricultural harvest, people are increasingly being drawn to shopping as a new way to celebrate.In the past, manual work was needed to prepare for the festival.

    It included grinding rice for making cakes, washing clothes by hand, cooking food and cleaning the house. People also shopped for food and other necessities, which gave the Spring Festival the name "Mangnian," or "a busy new year."

    These days however, it's easier just to go to the supermarket.No longer do relatives go to each other's house for new year greetings.

    Telephones and text messages deliver their good wishes, and even New Year postcards have become old-fashioned.But although times change, Spring Festival is still a traditional event loved and celebrated across China.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.

    (Source: XHTV)