Chinese Year Of The Rabbit Preparations Underway For Lunar New Year (PHOTOS)

Proud Chinese didn't let irregular weather concerns get in the way of their Lunar New Year preparations, with festive decorations seen going up in shopping centers in Shanghai and Beijing as well as throughout outlying cities across the country and throughout much of Asia.

In the 12-year lunar calendar cycle, 2011 marks the "Year of the Rabbit," and many are taking a literal approach to the festivities. In Hong Kong, young children donned bunny costumes in pink and white, while golden rabbits are among the many spirited items on sale in downtown Manila.

According to the Associated Press, about 230 million people are expected to travel during the Lunar New Year holiday season, which runs through the end of February.

See spectacular photos of the Lunar New Year preparations here:

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Children take part in an early Chinese New Year performance at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

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Children take part in an early Chinese New Year performance at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

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Chinese New Year

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Watch a video on the preparations:

Comments

[breakingpoint]

03:58 PM on 02/03/2011

don't eat vendor food
China makes food containing cardboard

[DAE]

09:32 PM on 02/03/2011

Tastes good. But leaves you hungry afterward.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

12:44 AM on 02/02/2011

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Everybody!!

[emsique]

07:39 PM on 02/01/2011

I live in China. This holiday is Christmas in the US X 100. Traffic jams and happy folks. Here are some of my pix of the preparations:
http://emsique.blogspot.com/2011/01/holidays-comin.html

[suso903]

12:44 AM on 02/02/2011

Love your photo of the Li River in the mist. My daughter was born in Guangxi, and I fondly remember our trip there.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

12:45 AM on 02/02/2011

Got your Lai-See packets ready?

[Yonis Hassan]

02:38 PM on 02/01/2011

Kung He Fat Choi. I hope I got the spelling right.

[HasanAli]

02:20 AM on 02/01/2011

I hear Hugh Hefner(founder of Playboy) is putting his money on this year of the rabbit

[blue756]

10:41 PM on 01/31/2011

Their special guest will be Tom "Top Gun" Cruise. He's going to give flying lessons to their air force pilots.

[dead WASP]

09:10 PM on 01/31/2011

The most wonderful time of the year, except for the incessant firecrackers going off at all hours of the day.

[Amryxx]

04:28 PM on 01/31/2011

I wonder with Hugh Hefner have something up his sleeve.

That aside, time to score some free oranges from my Chinese neighbours!

[FTracy3]

04:09 PM on 01/31/2011

Glenn Close hates the Yer of the Rabbit.

[dead WASP]

09:10 PM on 01/31/2011

;)

[DAE]

02:37 PM on 01/31/2011

According to the Pew Global Attitude Surveys Chinese have a very favorable opinion of themselves. 97% have a favorable impression of their country vs. 85% of Americans. They think their country is a leader both in providing development aid to poor countries and in helping after natural calamities. People around the world are largely dissatisfied with nearly all countries showing above 50% dissatisfied with the direction in which their country is headed. Except in China. For example, 62% in the US, 59% in Russia and 54% in India voice dissatisfaction while only 9% of Chinese do. 91% of Chinese think their economy is in good shape vs. 12% in Japan, 24% in the US, 33% in Russia and 57% in India. Moreover, 87% of Chinese think their economy is improving, again at the top of the list. The Chinese also rank at the top in their assessment of their government with 91% expressing satisfaction with their government’s management of the economy. As far as support for a market driven economy China again ranks first with 84% supporting a free market economy vs. 68% in the US. They also rank number one in thinking that trade and business ties are good for their country (93% vs. 66% in the US). On the other hand the Chinese are realistic. 45% still think the US is the world’s leading economy vs. 36% who name China, almost the reverse of US perceptions which name China as the leading economy (41%) vs. the US (38%).

[StansDad]

02:24 PM on 02/01/2011

Things look good when you manipulate your currency to steal yourself an economy

[I Claudius]

01:43 PM on 02/05/2011

Good thing the US has never done anything manipulative on the world stage eh?

We only have ourselves to blame for the mess we're in.

[Ramkshrestha]

12:29 PM on 01/31/2011

Wonderful!

[TYRANNASAURUS]

11:29 AM on 01/31/2011

Gorgeous Preparation's For China's 'Year Of The Rabbit' Celebrations ......

So that's why they're many people in China... the saying goes that if you eat like a rabbit you _____ like a rabbit.

[katwright]

01:18 PM on 01/31/2011

You ever heard about the one child policy?

[TYRANNASAURUS]

09:41 AM on 02/01/2011

Yes I have but have you heard that China has changed that policy for many cases... and in any case when you have 1,400,000,000 breeding the one child policy is a mute point.

[exigent]

09:38 AM on 01/31/2011

I am a rabbit (1975) and my daughter (due in march) will be a rabbit too. Good times!