Chinese people, including millions of quake survivors, observed the Lunar New Year eve in the traditional way on January 25th, with red lanterns hanging from the eaves, the bangs of firecrackers outside, and tables of delicious food. The Chinese New Year begins Monday.

Most of the dishes served for Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival) are symbolic of something positive and hopeful. Where western culture tends to put the emphasis on prosperity in the New Year the Chinese tend to focus on a number of elements. For instance, dishes made with oranges represent wealth and good fortune because they are China's most plentiful fruit; duck symbolizes fidelity, while eggs signify fertility.

On Saturday alone, there were 63.4 million trips on the railway networks, the Ministry of Transport estimated. The record movement through air, rail and road, regarded by many as the world's biggest migration, began on January 11 and will continue for 40 days.

Unfortunately the global economic crisis put a dampener on celebrations. Railways and planes worked full tilt over the weekend as people made last minute dashes home to welcome the Year of the Ox. Beijing has pledged to nearly double rail spending this year to 600 billion yuan to ease the congestion.

The government's 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan for the slowing Chinese economy is concentrated on infrastructure spending that could make future New Year trips less of a headache, but this focus has come under criticism from those who think hospitals and schools deserve higher priority.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao flew to Sichuan to celebrate the New Year along with the victims of last year's earth quake that had left more than 90,000 people dead.