Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009
by Xinhua writer Zhou Yan
BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese are crossing their fingers hoping the Year of the Ox, which began Monday, will bring fortune for the needy, health for the sick and good luck for all.
People think the year is an auspicious one as the ox, whose Chinese pronunciation "Niu" resembles "new", means "bullish", an element the nation needs urgently after an eventful, bitter-sweet year featuring a major earthquake, severe weather, the global financial crisis and the successful Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
Many are yet to brush away tears and fears from yesteryear: millions in quake-hit Sichuan Province are still mourning the dead and waiting for new homes. Jobless migrants are wondering where to earn a living now that the financial crisis has shut down factories, and wage earners are fretfully watching for stock prices to rise and housing costs to fall.
With family reunions, weddings, trips, and greetings sent via text message, e-mail or "snail mail," everyone is celebrating the "niu" year in their own way.
"BULLISH" FAMILY OF 124
A four-generation Beijing family of 124 people was in the spotlight on Chinese New Year's Day and was recognized by TV viewers as the "most bullish" family in the capital.
The Qi family, aged from 2 to 91, stood out from among 1,000 families to appear onstage during the evening gala of Beijing TV Monday night and sing in chorus "One Big Family", a Chinese pop song.
Qi Yi and her father Qi Shenyin, 72, gathered 108 members of the family onstage, including seven from his parents' generation.
"The audience was shocked when we appeared on the stage," said Qi Yi, who works at a travel service in Beijing.
Qi said her extended family has more than 70 members in Beijing and 46 in the neighboring Hebei Province, where her grandparents grew up. "I also have cousins, nieces and nephews in the United States, Australia, Germany and Denmark."
Family members have more than 50 kinds of jobs, ranging from farming, teaching, business and medicine to white-collar jobs, shesaid. "Even Ma Xinle, the artist who gave us our award, was in tears. He said 'You are so happy together. I really envy you'."
The family's prize was Ma's painting showing oxen ploughing the fields in spring. "We have agreed to auction it and donate all the money to either Project Hope or the earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan," said Qi Yi. "We hope the needy people will live as happily as we do."
POST-QUAKE SICHUAN: HOPING FOR BETTER LIFE
At 70, He Renli had the biggest Chinese New Year celebration of his life Sunday night, with more than 30 people from nine families in the neighborhood in quake-battered Dujiangyan City, Sichuan.
The neighbors hardly knew each other before the devastating earthquake of May 12, yet they all helped each other survive the disaster and the post-quake trauma.
"We all felt grateful to be alive. The disaster bound us together and we feel like one big family now," said He.
The New Year also marked the wedding of Li Yunxiang, 36, and Lin Xingcong, 46. They are both natives of Anxian County in Mianyang City who lost their spouses in the quake. The new couple have agreed to take care of all three children from their previous marriages, care for their own parents and families of their deceased spouses and start a new life together without forgetting their past.
On Tuesday, 17 quake orphans from Dujiangyan were invited to the giant panda breeding base in the provincial capital Chengdu, as a special gift for the New Year. The youngest was only two years old.
They visited the panda enclosures and feeding areas and each posed for a photo with a cuddly bear. "Now at last, I have had a close look at a panda. She felt like a plush toy," said 10-year-old Zhu Yangen.
Before the Chinese New Year, Chongqing university teacher Wang Haizhen invited a family of quake survivors from Sichuan's Chongzhou City to her home.
"I made rag dolls and rabbits and bought stationery for the children," she said. "They called me 'mama' and we all cried. We never knew each other before, but now we feel closer even than family."
With her love for these children, Wang said she felt "happier than ever" during the holiday.
FAMILY LOVE FENDS OFF CHILLS
Zhang Fangui is one of the 7.8 million migrant workers forced to return home late last year amid the impact of the global financial crisis.
He and his wife were laid off in October after the electronic component firm where they worked in the eastern Jiangsu Province was forced to cut production. They spent two months looking for new jobs, to no avail.
"We used to stay in the city making money during the Chinese New Year holiday. When everyone else went home and labor was scarce, employers would offer better pay," said Zhang.
With the "gold rush" over this year, Zhang took his wife and son to his rural home in the northern Hebei Province for the first time in three years.
The financial crisis has also driven Zhang's two brothers home, which delighted his 80-year-old father. "It feels good to be home after all," said Zhang. "All 20 members got together for the first time in years."
Together, they cleaned, shopped and pondered the future. "We¡¯ll build a new house for our parents and if we're still unable to find jobs in the cities, we might start a family business," said Zhang.
(Xinhua correspondents Jiang Yi and Yuan Jian in Sichuan, and Zhang Tao in Hebei, contributed to this story.)
