BEIJING (AP) — People across China welcomed the Lunar New Year on Sunday with large family gatherings and crowds visiting temples after the government lifted its strict “zero COVID” policy, marking the biggest holiday celebration since the pandemic began three years ago .
Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China. Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit. For the past three years, celebrations have been muted in the shadow of the pandemic.
With the easing of most of the COVID-19 restrictions that confined millions to their homes, people could finally make their first trip back to their hometowns to reunite with their families without the hassles of quarantine , potential blockages and suspension of travel. Larger public celebrations also returned for what is known as China’s Spring Festival, with the capital hosting thousands of cultural events – on a larger scale than a year ago.
“He has never experienced what the traditional New Year is like because he was too young three years ago and had no memory of it,” said Xie Jia, who brought her 7-year-old son to the Qianmen district near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to experience the festive atmosphere. and learn about traditional Chinese culture.
Nearly 53,000 prayed at the Lama Temple in Beijing, but the crowds appeared smaller than in the days before the pandemic. The Tibetan Buddhist site allows up to 60,000 visitors per day for safety reasons and requires advance booking.
Crowds of residents and tourists thronged the pedestrian streets in Qianmen, enjoying snacks from barbecue stalls and New Year’s rice cakes, and some children wore traditional Chinese rabbit hats. Others held puffed sugar or marshmallows in the shape of rabbits.
There was no sign of the usual busy New Year food stalls in Taoranting Park, although its avenues were decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns. A popular temple fair in Badachu Park, which was suspended for three years, will return this week, but similar events in Dithan Park and Longtan Lake Park have yet to return.
The mass movement of people can cause the virus to spread in certain areas, said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control. But a large-scale surge in COVID-19 is unlikely in the next two or three months, as about 80 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion people were infected during the recent wave, he wrote on social media platform Weibo on Saturday .
The center reported 12,660 deaths related to COVID-19 between Jan. 13 and 19, including 680 cases of respiratory failure caused by the virus and 11,980 deaths from other illnesses combined with COVID-19. That’s more than the 60,000 deaths reported last week since early December. Saturday’s statement said the deaths occurred in hospitals, meaning anyone who died at home would not be included in the count.
China has only counted deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 death toll, a narrow definition that excludes many deaths that would be attributed to COVID-19 in much of the world.
In Hong Kong, revelers flocked to the city’s largest Taoist temple, Wong Tai Sin, to burn the first incense sticks of the year. The popular ritual has been suspended for the past two years due to the pandemic.
Traditionally, large crowds gather before 11:00 PM on Lunar New Year’s Eve, each trying to be the first or among the first to release their incense sticks on the stands in front of the temple’s main hall. Devotees believe that those who are among the first to place their incense sticks will have the best chance of having their prayers answered.
Resident Freddie Ho, who visited the temple on Saturday evening, was happy to be able to join the event in person.
“I hope to place the first incense stick and pray that the New Year will bring world peace, Hong Kong’s economy will prosper, and the pandemic will go away from us and we can all live a normal life,” Ho said. “I believe that’s what everyone wants.”
Meanwhile, crowds praying for good luck at the historic Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, were smaller than a year ago even as the pandemic eased. This is partly because many have ventured to other parts of Taiwan or abroad on long-awaited trips.
While communities across Asia welcomed the Year of the Rabbit, the Vietnamese celebrated the Year of the Cat instead. There is no official answer to explain the difference. But one theory suggests that cats are popular because they often help Vietnamese rice farmers chase away rats.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press reporters Henry Hou, Olivia Zhang in Beijing, Alice Fung in Hong Kong and Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.
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