Daily Times

China has not been limited to just CPEC rather it is steadily moving into the social fabric of Pakistan through a flurry of extravaganza of the Chinese Spring Festival, held on February 5.

Programs in universities, hotels, institutes and local parties introducing Chinese Spring Festival famously known as Chinese New Year are gaining ground. It seems that Chinese Spring Festival is going to become a new window allowing Pakistani people to understand Chinese culture rooted in old traditions and new modern trends.

In connection with the spectacular celebrations of the Spring Festival, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing hosted a Chinese Spring Festival reception at the Embassy. Around 200 Pakistanis from political parties and government departments, think tanks, universities and media joined the ‘show of happiness’.

China’s Deputy Chief of Mission Lijian Zhao played a pivotal role in enlightening Pakistani society about the centrality of Spring Festival in Chinese culture. He also tweeted about Chinese New Year celebrations which took place on M-3 Industrial City Faisalabad where Chinese and Pakistani people celebrated together.

This year the Chinese New Year made a big splash after China and Pakistan agreed to make 2019 the ‘year of industrial, socio-economic and agriculture cooperation’ as Beijing promised to dispatch a series of business delegations over the next two months to move forward on at least four special industrial zones projects in the year.

Despite battling global tensions because of the US trade hostility, offensives at the South China Sea, Huawei’s CEO’s trial and the smearing campaign against BRI as well as CPEC; China’s cherished Spring Festival  was celebrated with jubilation.

In a bid to accommodate all the travellers, China launched 10 new railways at the end of 2018, broadening its operational length of high-speed railways to 29,000 km. The country’s aviation authority also aimed to schedule 532,000 flights during the travel rush, which is an increase of 10 percent compared to last year

As weal and woe often go hand in hand, around 1.4 billion Chinese have a fresh doctrine that crisis can never dampen their national celebration which marks 4000 years of tradition and history. This eve also gives birth to a mass travel exodus with likely 3 billion trips in China alone, and nearly 7 million Chinese are likely to travel to about 90 countries and regions during the 2019 Spring Festival public holiday.

The Spring Festival holiday is regarded as the ‘golden week’ in China, which saw about 6 million outbound tourists during the 2018 public holiday. The travel rush began 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year).

Million of passengers returned to their hometowns for family reunions. The 40-day 2019 Spring Festival travel rush started on January 21.

In a bid to accommodate all the travellers, China launched 10 new railways at the end of 2018, broadening its operational length of high-speed railways to 29,000 km. The country’s aviation authority also aimed to schedule 532,000 flights during the travel rush, which is an increase of 10 percent compared to last year.

Shanghai-based online travel agency Lvmama forecast that prices for domestic tours would shoot up by 30-50 percent during the Golden Week travel and those for outbound tours are to be 10 percent higher than off-season prices.

The CTA’s latest report said Chinese spent 5.13 trillion yuan (755.8 billion U.S. dollars) on domestic travel in 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.3 percent.

Agencies including Ctrip and Lvmama said 70 percent of Chinese would travel with families during the Spring Festival holiday, giving impetus to hotels to upgrade facilities and service for attracting family travelers.

The Spring Festival travel rush surfaced in the 1980s after rural laborers flocked into cities to find jobs amid China’s urbanization development. They could afford time and money to go back home once a year for the Spring Festival family reunion.

Chinese New Year is a time to celebrate good luck and to wish for a prosperous new year. Celebrations include having an annual reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve, setting off firecrackers, giving money to children, ringing the New Year bell, sending Chinese New Year greetings, dragon and lion dancing, and Niu Yangge (traditional dances in northern China).

Among the house decorations auspicious couplets are posted on doors, in the hope of attracting good luck. The feast on New Year’s Eve is a ‘compulsory’ banquet, with all family members getting together.

Chinese people believe that the ringing of a huge bell can drive bad luck away and bring good fortune. After the great dinner, families often sit together and chat happily, to welcome the New Year.

Everyone wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and gongxi (congratulations) on the first day of the New Year, wishing each other good luck and happiness in the year ahead.

In Southern China typically steamed fish, Cantonese poached chicken, and red braised pork are served, and in Northern China – mostly hotpot, noodles, dumplings, and New Year’s cake (Nián G?o).

The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people’s sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one.

Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened. On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job’s tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko. The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now, however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.

Published in Daily Times, February 9^th 2019.