China is celebrating the Lunar New Year, with most COVID rules lifted

BEIJING — People across China rang in 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 festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago.

The 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 were muted in the shadow of the pandemic.

With the easing of most COVID-19 restrictions, many people could finally make their first trip back to their hometowns to reunite with their families without worrying about the hassles of quarantine, potential lockdowns and suspension of travel. Larger public celebrations also returned for what is known as the Spring Festival in China, with the capital hosting thousands of cultural events — on a larger scale than a year ago.

In Beijing, many worshippers offered morning prayers at the Lama Temple but the crowds appeared to be smaller compared to pre-pandemic days. The Tibetan Buddhist site allows up to 60,000 visitors a day, citing safety reasons, and requires an advance reservation.

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Throngs of residents and tourists swarmed pedestrian streets in the Qianmen area near Tiananmen Square. Many of them enjoyed snacks from barbecue and New Year rice cake stands, and some children wore traditional Chinese rabbit hats. Others held blown sugar or marshmallows shaped like rabbits.

Beijing resident Si Jia said she felt that life in Beijing was back to normal in general, pointing to the return of tourists. She said she brought her 7-year-old son to Qianmen to experience the festive vibe in Beijing and learn about traditional Chinese culture.

"He has never experienced what a traditional new year is like because he was too young three years ago and he had no memory of that," she said. "But this year I can show him around here."

At Taoranting Park, there was no sign of the usual bustling New Year food stalls despite its walkways being decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns. A popular temple fair at Badachu Park that was suspended for three years will be back this week, but similar events at Ditan Park and Longtan Lake Park have yet to return.

The mass movement of people may cause the virus to spread in certain areas, said Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China's Center for Disease Control. But a large-scale COVID-19 surge will be unlikely in the next two or three months because about 80% of the country's 1.4 billion people have been infected during the recent wave, he wrote on the social media platform Weibo on Saturday.

Worshippers wearing face masks burn their first joss sticks as they pray at the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, to celebrate the Lunar New Year which marks the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac.

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In Hong Kong, revelers flocked to the city's largest Taoist temple, Wong Tai Sin Temple, to burn the first incense sticks of the year. The site's popular ritual was suspended the last two years due to the pandemic.

Traditionally, big crowds gather before 11 p.m. on Lunar New Year's Eve, with everyone trying to be the first, or among the first, to put their incense sticks into the stands in front of the temple's main hall. Worshippers believe those who are among the first to place their incense sticks will stand the best chance of having their prayers answered.

Local resident Freddie Ho, who visited the temple on Saturday night, was happy that he could join the event in person.

"I hope to place the first incense stick and pray that the New Year brings world peace, that Hong Kong's economy will prosper, and that the pandemic will go away from us and we can all live a normal life," Ho said. "I believe this is what everyone wishes."

Meanwhile, the crowds praying for good fortune at the historic Longshan Temple in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, were smaller than a year ago even as the pandemic has eased. That is partly because many people there had ventured to other parts of Taiwan or overseas on long-awaited trips.

As communities across Asia welcomed the Year of the Rabbit, the Vietnamese were celebrating the Year of the Cat instead. There's no official answer to explain the difference. But one theory suggests cats are popular because they often help Vietnamese rice farmers to chase away rats.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.