China’s strong flavor of the New Year drifted to the whole world and became the focus of foreign media again during the Spring Festival.
On February 15th, citizens bought Chinese New Year ornaments at Renmin Road New Year Market in Fuyang City, Anhui Province. Lu Qijian/photo
On February 15th, New Year’s Eve, China’s annual flavor is fragrant all over the world. While many Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival, many overseas media have also turned their attention to this important festival.
Chinese set foot on his way home.
On February 14th, Forbes biweekly website published an article entitled "China New Year: the largest migration of people in the world", saying that China will celebrate the beginning of the Lunar New Year on Friday. The Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival. To commemorate this festival, the whole of China took a vacation together, which resulted in the largest human activity on earth.
According to the article, according to China media reports, in order to celebrate the coming of the Year of the Dog, it is estimated that hundreds of millions of Chinese will leave big cities to visit their relatives in their hometowns.
According to the article, with the steady expansion of China’s high-speed rail network, for the first time, the number of people taking high-speed trains exceeded the number of people taking ordinary trains. Comparing the Spring Festival in China with the largest annual population movement in the United States is a good way to measure its huge scale. On Thanksgiving Day in 2017, airports in the United States were crowded with people and interstate highways were blocked. However, during Spring Festival travel rush, the scale of population movement in China was several times that of the United States.
According to a report on the website of Forbes biweekly on February 13th, China’s Ministry of Transport predicts that there will be nearly 3 billion trips in Spring Festival travel rush this year.
According to the report, China is still a developing country, and most of the trips (up to 80%) are probably by coach, but more and more Spring Festival travel rush tourists will enjoy the comfortable air-conditioned journey brought by China’s world-class high-speed rail network. China’s high-speed rail network has developed from a single demonstration line of 113 kilometers specially built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to a crisscross line of 25,000 kilometers covering the whole country.
According to the report, the China Municipal Government estimates that the Spring Festival travel rush Railway will carry 390 million passengers this year, of which 57.5% will take the high-speed rail. Taking high-speed rail is much cheaper than flying, and it is faster and safer than traditional road and railway transportation.
High-tech brings new year customs.
On February 14th, the website of Time magazine published an article entitled "How to Keep Good Luck in China New Year", saying that with the rapid approach of the Lunar New Year, many Chinese are maximizing their prosperity in the coming year — — That is, good luck everywhere — — The opportunity. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most grand festival in China.
According to the article, the dog is one of the twelve zodiac animals in China. People born in the year of the dog are considered loyal, upright and selfless. If you want to keep good luck this year, please follow these China New Year traditions:
Give your residence a general cleaning: make sure to finish cleaning before the first day of the new year, because according to the ancient folk custom, cleaning during the festival will bring bad luck.
Hang red lanterns: hang red lanterns at the entrance of your home, paste red decorations on the walls, and wear red clothes for good luck.
Distribute red envelopes: Be sure to observe certain red envelope etiquette — — Red envelopes are usually issued by married people or employers. New banknotes should be placed in red envelopes, and the total amount should be even, and there must be no amount including the number 4, because the pronunciation of 4 in Chinese is close to the word "death".
Setting off fireworks: This is a New Year tradition in China dating back thousands of years. In China folklore, firecrackers are used to drive away the evil beast named Nian. On the first day of the new year, this evil beast will bring havoc to the village.
Enjoy a feast with your family: Perhaps the most important part of China’s New Year is spending time with your family. One of the most important is the New Year’s dinner, also known as the "reunion dinner". Some dishes are eaten because of their symbolic meanings, and some of them are part of thousands of years-old traditions. Although different families and different regions have their own traditions, some dishes are considered essential. Fish has become an important role on the reunion dinner table because it symbolizes wealth. Spring rolls also symbolize prosperity, because their appearance is imaginatively thought to be similar to small gold bars.
According to a report on the website of Bloomberg News on February 14th, in many ways, the Lunar New Year holiday in China is like combining Thanksgiving, Christmas and Independence Day in the United States. Although it has been celebrated for thousands of years, this festival is still influenced by the rise of science and technology and its rapidly changing society and economy in China.
According to the report, the most obvious change is the evolution of red envelopes. The traditional way of giving out red envelopes is to send red envelopes with cash to children. But the electronic payment revolution in China has shifted this practice to online. The "virtual" red envelopes introduced by China technology giants a few years ago have become popular. During the New Year holiday last year, the number of electronic red-envelope sent and received through WeChat reached 46 billion, equivalent to 33 red envelopes sent and received by everyone in China. This is a faster way to complete the tradition of giving red envelopes in the New Year.
The number of outbound tourists has reached a record high
According to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on February 15th, china tourism academy predicted that the number of outbound tourists from Chinese during the Spring Festival would reach 6.5 million, a record high. Due to the appreciation of RMB this year, outbound travel will be more cost-effective.
According to the article, Thailand is still the first choice for tourists from China, and Japan ranks second. As a cold resort, Phuket, Thailand is very popular. From Asia, Northern Europe, Canada to Antarctica, China tourists have traveled all over the world.
According to a report on the website of Bloomberg News on February 14th, this month, 6.5 million people in Chinese will go abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. They will bring luggage and smart phones, and hope to enjoy the same technical convenience that they have become accustomed to in China. Mobile payment based on smart phone is very popular in China.
According to the report, China tourists can of course use cash and credit cards overseas, but it is much more convenient to use the domestic payment system connected with bank accounts.
In addition, according to the report of the Associated Press on February 15th, in recent years, more and more Chinese traveled abroad during the New Year, which reflected the growing prosperity of the urban middle class. According to a report jointly released by Ctrip.com and china tourism academy, it is estimated that more than 6.5 million people will travel abroad during the Spring Festival this year. Travelers have booked flights to more than 68 countries and regions, among which Thailand, Japan, United Arab Emirates and Nordic countries are among the top destinations. According to the report, the per capita transaction price of products for outbound group tours and free travel during the Spring Festival reached 9,500 yuan.
According to the report, domestic travel is also very popular. Earlier this month, the National Tourism Administration predicted that this year’s Spring Festival holiday tourism revenue will reach 476 billion yuan.