Chinese lunar new year is only a few days away and the festival atmosphere, or what is called "Nianwei" in Chinese - the festival taste - is thick in the air everywhere. As the old Chinese saying goes, every ten miles is a different custom.
Fortune arrives with blooming flowers.
In southern China, flower markets and botanical gardens are bustling with excited visitors. Orange trees are a crowd-drawer.
A vendor in Guangzhou market said:"A large orange tree is considered auspicious for one's career, business and life."
In Guangdong's Foshan City, the festive atmosphere is in full bloom with the Spring Festival Flower Show in Chencun Village.
The Village is known for its fragrance of flowers that drifts along miles of streets, drawing hundreds of visitors each year.
North-east China's Shenyang city has donned a festive look. Strings of red lanterns hang along the streets as symbols of prosperity. And pairs of traditional Chinese decorative knots drape off the pedestrian footbridges.
Folk artist Qi Xiuhua in Gaomi City Shandong Province is creating piles of paper-cuttings, each one bearing a wish of happiness and well-being.
Qi Xiuhua, paper-cutting artist, said:"2013 is the Chinese year of snake. I've made a hundred cuttings already. You can see, some of these snakes bear a traditional Chinese coin in their mouths, this means countless wealth. Other snakes coil on lotus flowers, which symbolises a good harvest year."
Tibetans are also embracing their coming new year, which they call "Losar" and celebrated on February 25th according to Tibetan Calendar.
The front of the Potala Palace is paved with a large blanket of flowers, bearing new year greetings in both Chinese and Tibetan.
Copyright ©1999-2011 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
