Nearly all Internet domains named after Chinese festivals have been registered, the People's Daily reported.

Over 40 traditional Chinese festivals have been registered as domain names, including the Lantern Festival and the Double Nineth Festival, sources with the China Internet Network Information Center were quoted by the paper as saying.

Especially since the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Festival), a traditional Chinese festival, was used by a company from the Republic of Korea as a domain name (Duanwu.cn), the protection of China's traditional culture on the Internet has become a hot topic, the paper said.

The names of minority nationality festivals have also been used, such as the Water-Sprinkling Festival of the Dai ethnic group and Lesser Bairam of Hui ethnic group, the paper said.

Foreign festivals with Chinese characteristics, including Christmas and Saint Valentine's Day, have also been registered as domain names, the paper said.

International festivals like Children's Day and Labor Day, in Chinese characters, also appear on the Internet as domain names, the paper added.

"The enthusiasm about registration of Chinese domain names is because, on the one hand, the Chinese are beginning to realize the importance of the protection of traditional Chinese culture on the Internet, and on the other hand, recognize the value of domain names in Chinese as a kind of potential resource," experts were quoted by the paper as saying.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2005)