People across China celebrate upcoming Chinese New Year of the Rabbit
By Du Yifei, People’s Daily
As the Chinese lunar New Year of the Rabbit draws near, festive vibes are sensed everywhere in China, such as splendid rabbit-shaped lanterns, delightful rabbit-themed paper cuttings, cute stuffed toy rabbits, and beautiful and tasty bunny-shaped steamed buns.
Rabbit-themed cultural activities are attracting huge numbers of tourists and products in shapes of rabbits sought-after on the market.
Amid China’s recently optimized COVID-19 management policy, nearly 2.1 billion people are expected to join the Spring Festival travel rush, up 99.5 percent from a year ago and equivalent to 70.3 percent of the 2019 level. A China “on the go” will further thicken the festive atmosphere and stimulate consumption demand.
Feel the joyful atmosphere of the upcoming Year of the Rabbit with the following photos.
A lantern fair is held at the Yu Garden, a well-known classical Chinese garden in downtown Shanghai, to celebrate the approaching Year of the Rabbit. The lanterns displayed at the fair are inspired by figures in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Lantern fair is a tradition of China that enjoys a long history. It is often held around the Chinese New Year and before the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year. The colorful lanterns carry people’s wishes for a better life and a splendid future. (Photo by Wang Gang/People’s Daily Online)
Lanterns hang on shelves at a square in Yuncheng, north China’s Shanxi province to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit, Jan. 11, 2023. (Photo by Xue Jun/People’s Daily Online)
People buy lanterns to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year in Bozhou, east China’s Anhui province, Jan. 9, 2023. Spring Festival shopping is important to Chinese people. Ornaments with traditional Chinese characteristics are always on high demand on markets, including red lanterns, Chinese New Year paintings, decorative knots, Spring Festival couplets and character Fu which means fortune and good luck. (Photo by Liu Qinli/People’s Daily Online)
A child buys a stuffed toy rabbit in Luoyang, central China’s Henan province, to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rabbit, Jan. 8, 2023. (Photo by Zhang Guanghui/People’s Daily)
Children display paper cuttings they have made in Longshan village, Deqing county, Huzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province, Jan. 11, 2023. Paper cutting is an art of paper designs, which is used as decorations or for folk activities. (Photo by Wang Shucheng/People’s Daily Online)
Zheng Guangyun (right), an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, sells handmade toy rabbits manufactured by herself and her colleagues on a livestream platform at an intangible cultural heritage workshop in Linyi, east China’s Shandong province, Jan. 12, 2023. (Photo by Du Yubao/People’s Daily Online)
The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush officially kicks off on Jan. 7, 2023. An attendant on a high-speed train departing from Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan province, talks with a child. (Photo by Wang Wei/People’s Daily Online)
Sun Liandong, an inheritor of dough modeling, which is an item on the intangible cultural heritage list of Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu province, teaches children to make dough rabbits in his workshop, Jan. 11, 2023. Dough modeling is a traditional Chinese folk art. It shapes figures and animals with dough and is favored by Chinese people thanks to its splendid colors and vividness. (Photo by Zhao Shixin/People’s Daily Online)
Rabbit-shaped steamed buns are made in an intangible cultural heritage workshop in Dongying, east China’s Shandong province, Jan. 8, 2023. (Photo by Zhou Guangxue/People’s Daily Online)
Children in Qianyuan township, Deqing county, Huzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year of the Rabbit, wearing bunny ears headband and traditional Chinese costumes, and carrying lanterns and decorative knots, Jan. 16, 2023. (Photo by Ni Lifang/People’s Daily Online)
A Serbian family write Chinese character fu, which means good luck and fortune, under the guidance of a Chinese calligraphy teacher during a Chinese New Year activity in Weihai, east China’s Shandong province, Jan. 12, 2023. (Photo by Zhu Chunxiao/People’s Daily Online)
