The good news this week is that China announces to reopen borders and loosen the lockdown restrictions of COVID-19 and will not adopt strict quarantine policy for inbound travelers from the next month. It’s quite a long time that China has tightened the inbound policy since the COVID-19 burst out. There is just one week before January 1st. Will China’s sudden reopen policy on COVID-19 have any impact on the upcoming New Year’s Day?

 

The answer is yes. Maybe the travelers during the New Year’s Day will peak compared with the same period last year and people will experience the travel rush ahead of the Spring Festival. Like many other countries in the world, China also celebrates the first day of January, which is called Yuan Dan in Chinese. The mandarin Chinese Yuan indicates the start of everything, while Dan means a day. When put together, Yuan Dan usually suggests January 1st in Chinese solar calendar. Besides Yuan Dan, Chinese people also observes the Spring Festival in Chinese lunar calendar, which is authentically the revival of all things and the restart of a new life.

 

As the first public holiday in a year, all Chinese people will have three-day leave including weekends. Although many Chinese people only paste Spring couplets before the Spring Festival, some of them may do this before New Year’s Day (January 1st). On January 1st, most Chinese people would go out feasting and shopping with their family and friends, reward themselves, and say goodbye to the hardwork 2022. Young people would also have some special jubilation activities with their beloved ones, like playing fireworks, climbing, watching shows, travelling across the country, etc. Kids would wear their favourite clothes and receive red envelope and gifts from the elder relatives.

Our company also has abundant activities to celebrate the New Year’s Day. In the past few years, all employees proactively participated in the New Year’s Talk (or Tea Party), talent show, drawing red envelopes, passing the cup while drumming, etc. This year’s celebrations are yet to come, let’s wait and see!