Busy, yet happy. Chinese are decorating their houses, cleaning the streets, going shopping and planning get-togethers as the traditional Lunar New Year counts down.

Days before the Lunar New Year perhaps are the busiest period of time for Chinese and the happiest moment for businessmen, sociologists here noted.

To welcome the traditional Lunar New Year, known as Spring Festival which falls on January 24 this year, a great number of people have moved or are moving into new apartments.

Yongxing Remover's in Shanghai, China's largest metropolis, has to run 24 hours round-the-clock on the eve of the Spring Festival to help local residents move into new houses.

Yong'An Remover's had to say sorry to the clients who had booked the vans late due to its lack of removers and vans.

Several hundred removers in Shanghai have seen their business rise during the golden period. Statistics show that the whole city sold new housing totaling 10 million square meters and involving 100,000 families in the first three quarters of last year.

In the north China port city of Tianjin, downtown streets have seen steady stream of shopping crowds, who bargained with the vendors for the traditional ornaments, such as pictures, couplets, paper cuttings and green plants for the interior and window decoration.

In Beijing, the national capital, residents took to the streets to help sanitation workers clear away snow and ice left over by several snowfalls.

Spring Festival is an occasion for family reunion. The week-long holiday also becomes a gold period of time for traveling both at home and overseas.

(People’s Daily 01/22/2001)