China celebrates its Year of the Tiger amid all the restrictions due to covid

This Tuesday, February 1, China celebrates its New Year, that this 2022 corresponds to the tiger, one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. The celebrations that are part of this Asian tradition are limited in large cities as a precaution against the pandemic, at a time when above all Beijing intensifies prevention for the Olympic Games (JJ. OO.), which will begin next Friday.

Chinese New Year: what the year of the tiger means and how it is celebrated

In this period, the Chinese usually return to their hometowns, which is why 280 million train trips and 600,000 flights are expected in the country during this festive period.

The festivities bid farewell to the old year and are meant to bring luck and prosperity in the new one. There are family feasts and outdoor shows complete with firecrackers, fireworks and often dancing dragons. People decorate their houses with red for good luck and children receive money in envelopes from Red color sparkly.

The celebrations last two weeks and end on February 15 this year with the lantern festival, which marks the full moon.

Among the previous traditions, the faithful burned incense and prayed at the Ma Zhu Miao temple. In Filandia, ice sculptures of tigers are exhibited.

Year of the Tiger

Each year is associated with one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. This is the Year of the Tiger. It is said that children born in this year will be brave, competitive and strong.

Measures

The Chinese will face travel restrictions and suspension of traditional events during this period, in addition to keeping the borders closed to non-residents.

To minimize the risk of contagion, Numerous local authorities have encouraged residents to spend the party in their usual place of residence, for which they have even prepared rewards of up to 500,000 yuan (78,730 dollars, 69,000 euros) to companies that manage to retain their employees in the city.

Furthermore, throughout the country, cities such as Shenzhen, Hangzhou or Tianjin have canceled traditional lunar New Year’s Eve events such as fairs and markets or meetings in temples.

The restrictions extend to the interior of the houses: In Chinese cities such as Shanghai, it has been requested that family gatherings in homes do not exceed ten attendees.

Also, the Chinese who move will have to consult the changing entry regulations of the different provinces and cities, several of which require negative nucleic acid tests on arrival and restrict access to those who have passed through areas considered at risk.

Some prefer challenges

Chen Hainan, a teacher in her thirties who lives in Shanghai, has not spent the Lunar New Year with her family since 2020 because of covid. But like millions of Chinese, this year he will defy setbacks and restrictions to be able to return home.

After two years deprived of this celebration, Chen Hainan plans to return to his parents’ house in the coastal province of Zhejian (east), even if this means carrying out five PCR tests between the round trip.

“At first I didn’t expect to come back this year,” he says just before he boards his train at Shanghai Central Station, packed with commuters returning to see their families. “But then I reflected. It’s been two years now, so I decided to face all the trouble.”, Add.

This day marks the start of the “Spring Festival”, the most important family reunion of the year in China, the equivalent of the Christmas celebrations in the Christian world.

Fear of not being able to return

According to the press, the number of travelers is much higher this year compared to 2021. The Shanghai station has been almost all week taken by an almost uninterrupted flow of passengers.

In Beijing, the dilemma is more complicated. Due to the Games, the authorities emphasize even more the need not to move. Those who wish to leave, however, are assured that they will be able to return with a negative PCR test.

But not everyone trusts this guarantee. “We stay in Beijing during the holidays because we are afraid that we will not be able to return if cases are detected in our city or elsewhere”, recognizes AFP Joanna Feng, an architect originally from Wuhan.

“Obviously grandparents would want to see their grandchildren for New Years. But we’ll go after the holidays.”, Explain.

Those who come from places in China where a single case of local contagion of covid has been registered are prohibited from entering Beijing.

Meetings in temples and markets in the Chinese capital for the arrival of the Year of the Tiger have been canceled.

According to Ctrip, China’s leader in online reservations for trains, planes and hotels, short stays and vacations close to home have triumphed this year.

The 18 year old Huang Jinnan, a factory worker in Shanghai, has no plans to stay in the economic metropolis after missing the holidays last year.

“I’m going to see my grandmother” to Henan (central) province. “I’m coming home (because) I have nowhere else to go.”

world celebration

Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese communities around the world celebrate the New Year.

New York holds a firecracker ceremony, in which they will blow up about 600,000 in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Afterwards there will be lion dances and parades through the streets of Chinatown.

Singapore organizes a street parade called Chingay, which features floats, colorful costumes, live performances and fireworks.

Manchester is home to one of the UK’s oldest and largest Chinese communities and, on New Year’s, his 53-meter-long dragon parades through the streets to the city’s Chinatown.

In Spain, Chinese residents welcomed the Year of the Tiger with a colorful parade through the streets of Barcelona.

In Latin America, cities like Buenos Aires, Havana or Mexico City, among many others, they also have their own activities and celebrations to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year. (E)