Fireworks, family reunions and hazmat suits – how China is celebrating the Lunar New Year
The Lunar New Year holiday has been described as the largest migration of people on the planet.
This year, many families will be reunited after nearly three years of strict zero-COVID curbs on travel.
At Beijing station many came laden with gifts, others were still taking extreme precautions, we saw one family dressed in full white hazmat suits.
What is the Lunar New Year – and what does the Year of the Rabbit signify?
Official statistics say 110 million people have travelled by train in the two weeks leading up to the New Year holiday, but the station wasn’t quite as busy as might be expected – perhaps an indication that COVID is still rife here.
Indeed, this country has been hit by a huge wave of infections after rules were abruptly dropped in December.
The chief epidemiologist at China Center for Disease Control has said 80% of the population has already caught the virus.
For those who’ve recovered, reunions are relished.
Luna Li and her toddler Annie were travelling to see their family for the first time in a year.
“I think to see the family is more important than getting worried about being sick again.” she said.
Luna Li and her toddler Annie
“It’s been three years, it’s really a long time, we want to get our life normal again.”
‘The peak won’t come again’
We travelled with her and others by train to Shandong province, which is home to the highest number of elderly people in the country.
There is still fear about the virus being transported to places like this, even President Xi has said in the last few days he is worried about further rural spread.
And it’s villages like Da Gu on the line. Small rural places with small rudimentary facilities.
It’s a picturesque place, surrounded by hills with quiet streets and traditional homes, but one tiny clinic is the only medical resource.
The doctor told us she wasn’t worried though.
“The epidemic has already passed. The peak will not come again,” she said.
“Most people have recovered. Only those with underlying diseases are not very good.”
More than 12,000 dead in a week
As dusk fell, people bought out boxes of paper money to burn in the street – a traditional practice on New Year’s Eve to honour the dead.
COVID means there are more to remember this year. More than 12,000 people died of the disease just last week, according to authorities.
The total number is unclear, but some modelling suggests this wave could claim more than a million lives.
However, for many families, it’s just a joy to be able to be together again.
Three generations of the Yin family gathered to eat traditional food, honour their ancestors and celebrate with fireworks.
Over dinner, the head of the family Yin Hexin reflected on how the worst is now behind them.
“Some elderly died, those with issues already, heart disease or something else. Others are fine,” he said.
“We don’t care much, normalisation or not, it feels like a cold.”
It’s unclear if the holiday will spark something bigger, or if the peak of this wave has truly passed.
But for many, for now, it just feels like a much longed for release.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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