Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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China Rings in Lunar New Year with Festive Meals, Fireworks
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=164C996:A6F02AD83191E160A30B34606A5B10359574F7DCC14957C0 Residents of
Beijing have set off hundreds of thousands of firecrackers to ring in
the Year of the Pig China has celebrated the start of the Lunar New
Year holiday with festive family meals





Man browses new year decorationsand massive fireworks displays.

Residents of Beijing set off thousands of firecrackers late Saturday
to ring in the Year of the Pig.

Chinese traditionally set off firecrackers to scare away evil spirits
and encourage good fortune for the new year.

China's official Xinhua News Agency says 125 people in the capital
were injured by the fireworks, three of them seriously. Beijing
authorities lifted a ban on fireworks in 2005, 12 years after imposing
it for safety reasons.

Chinese President Hu Jintao spent New Year's Eve Saturday with
villagers in the poor, northwestern province of Gansu. Mr. Hu said he
was pleased to see more prosperity in the village of Daping, which he
last visited in 1999.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters


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