Pandemic casts shadow over new year

BEIJING: The Chinese people are welcoming the new year according to the traditional lunar calendar, with the coronavirusblighted Year of the Rat making way for a hopefully more auspicious Year of the Ox.

People born this year are considered reliable workers and good leaders.

Professional fortune tellers have been filling the media with predictions of good luck, saying they expect a more harmonious and peaceful 2021.

Still, it will be the second year that Covid19 casts a shadow over the celebrations.

After several localised outbreaks, authorities had urged the billionstrong population not to travel back home for the most important Chinese family festival.

With one in five Chinese not working where their family is from, in a normal year China experiences the world's largest annual migration during the holiday.

This year, however, the number of trips is expected to drop by 60%, the Ministry of Transport forecast.

Temple fairs, fireworks displays and traditional New Year markets have been cancelled to avoid large crowds.

PHOTO: REUTERS Welcoming change . . . A family poses in front of a lantern display depicting traditional Northern and Southern Chinese lion dance costumes during the annual River Hongbao festival on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Ox, otherwise known as the Spring Festival, at Singapore's Gardens by the Bay.