China celebrates Lunar New Year with most Covid rules lifted
Thousands across China rang in the Lunar New Year on Sunday after the government lifted its strict zero-Covid policy, marking the biggest celebration in three years.
The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China and each year it is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit.
For the past three years, celebrations were muted in the shadow of the pandemic.
With the easing of most Covid restrictions, many people could finally make their first trip back to their hometowns to reunite with their families without worrying about quarantine or lockdowns.
Larger public celebrations also returned for what is known as the Spring Festival in China, with the capital hosting thousands of cultural events on a larger scale than a year ago.
In Beijing, many worshippers offered morning prayers at the Lama Temple, but the crowds appeared to be smaller compared to pre-pandemic days.
The Tibetan Buddhist site allows up to 60,000 visitors a day, citing safety reasons, and requires an advance reservation.
Crowds packed the streets in the Qianmen area near Tiananmen Square, many enjoying snacks from barbecue and New Year rice cake stands, and some children wore traditional Chinese rabbit hats.
Beijing resident Si Jia said she felt that life in Beijing was back to normal in general, pointing to the return of tourists.
She said she brought her seven-year-old son to Qianmen to experience the festive vibe in Beijing and learn about traditional Chinese culture.
“He has never experienced what a traditional new year is like because he was too young three years ago and he had no memory of that,” she said. "But this year I can show him around here.”
How is the new year being celebrated in the UK?
Thousands have been taking part in organising or spectating festivities as communities across the UK mark the event this weekend.
In Birmingham an inclusive programme of celebrations took place on Saturday which was named the Lunar New Year to acknowledge the festival being celebrated in other countries.
It featured a packed event list included Lion Dances, martial arts, street food and live music.
Leicester has all held a number of different events across the weekend as part of the occasion.
James Wong, chairman of the Chinese Festival Committee Birmingham, said: "One of my ideas on the festival committee is to spread the Chinese culture far and wide within Birmingham so we're going to quite a few different places.
"Hopefully we can spread our culture to different parts of Birmingham that might never see our Culture."
Do celebrations risk spreading Covid in China?
The mass movement of people may cause the virus to spread in certain areas, said Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China’s Center for Disease Control.
But a large-scale Covid surge will be unlikely in the next two or three months because about 80% of the country's 1.4 billion people have been infected during the recent wave, he wrote on the social media platform Weibo on Saturday.
The centre separately reported 12,660 Covid-related deaths between January 13 and 19.
The statement on Saturday said those “deaths related to Covid” occurred in hospitals, which means anyone who died at home would not be included in the tally.
Last week, China reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had Covid since early December.
China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official Covid death toll, a narrow definition that excludes many deaths that would be attributed to the virus in much of the world.
It was one of the biggest news stories of our time - and it's still not over. So what did Boris Johnson know about Downing Street’s notorious parties? With fresh revelations from our Number 10 sources, in their own words, listen to the inside story...