BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | China celebrates Spring Festival

BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Monday, 11 February, 2002, 14:27 GMT

China celebrates Spring Festival

China celebrates the lunar New Year which starts on Tuesday, bringing in the Year of the Horse.

Girls perform at the opening ceremony of the annual Longtan Lake fair Monday, 11 February 2002.

A performer feeds a live snake through her nose and out her mouth during a performance at a temple fair

Performers dressed as imperial guards take part in a Qing Dynasty sacrifice ceremony at Beijing's Temple of the Earth, 11 February

A Shanghai boy holds an electric lantern depicting a horse; a traditional house with a big Chinese character letter of horse at Yu Garden

A Chinese military police officer keeps watch over a crowd as lion dancers perform behind him at the opening ceremony of the annual Temple of the Earth fair

A group of musicians perform at the opening ceremony of the Longtan Lake annual fair on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year

Related to this story:
China on the move for New Year (11 Feb 02 | Asia-Pacific) Inside China: Workers on the move (19 Sep 01 | Business) Country profile: China (10 Dec 01 | Country profiles)

Internet links: Chinese New Year facts |
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