Lunar New Year

Shanghai sees in the Lunar New Year with a veritable explosion of fireworks all over the city. Family and friends get together and indulge in Yangge dancing and lion dancing. The origins of the Yangge dance can be traced back 2,000 years to a religious activity to greet the gods and dispel evil. Today, it is less allied with its religious past, and has become more of a party in this most outward-looking of Chinese cities. Fireworks have spiritual significance — they are meant to see out the old and bring in the new. Everyone in the family must wear new clothes on the morning of Lunar New Year’s Day and the older population will visit temples, bringing offerings of food, wine and even live poultry to appease the gods.