Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009

    BEIJING, Jan. 30 -- Buildings and roads in Beijing are alight with a festive glow for eight days spanning the Chinese New Year.

    The night-lights will be on between January 24th and the 31st, covering the last day of the former Chinese Year of the rat and the first week of the new year of the ox.

    Changan street and more than 150 high-rise buildings on the central axis roads are sparkling in the night's sky.

    On the eve of the lunar New Year Sunday, tourists gathered in front of National Center for Performing Arts to take pictures.

    Soundbite: tourist I am 71 years old, and I feel it's a real honor to visit the National Center for Performing Arts.

    And Olympic stadiums like the "Bird's Nest”and "Water Cube,”or National Stadium and National Aquatics Center, have also got in on the celebration.

    Soundbite: It's fantastic, and really cool too. I'm so happy I could enjoy this beautiful scene during the Chinese New Year.

    The night view project focuses mostly on the Tiananmen area, although more than 30 overpasses have also been equipped with illumination systems through the capital city.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.