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Rain, snow threaten Lunar New Year chaos in Asia |
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(02/13/2010)
Beijing, PAB-Online
Heavy rain and snow storms will batter the north of China over the
weekend, forecasters said, potentially causing travel chaos as millions
head home on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
The Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is China's most important holiday, reuniting families around the vast nation of 1.3 billion and triggering an exodus believed to be the world's largest annual human migration.
China's Meteorological Administration said on Friday a cold front that earlier forced airport and highway closures across the north had eased off a little, but would return with a bang on Saturday.
"From New Year's Eve on the 13th, large-scale rain and snow will return," the agency warned.
"Everyone must make preparations for rain, snow and falling temperatures when returning home or going out to visit relatives and friends," it added.
Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos after a massive cold wave and freezing rain hit southern and central China in 2008, crippling transport systems and stranding millions just as the travel rush got under way.
The government has said that 210 million passengers are expected to take the train during the current New Year period, which officially began late January. Nearly 30 million more will travel by air and millions of others by bus.
Aside from snow and rain, the weather agency said coastal areas had also been hit by strong winds in recent days.
Similar scenes occurred in South Korea, where millions Friday braved snow-covered and slippery roads in some regions as the New Year exodus got under way.
More than 25 million people, just over half South Korea's population, are expected to be on the move during the holiday period and many of them will be driving, the transport ministry said.
As in China, Koreans gather in home towns or ancestral villages during the Lunar New Year to pay their respects to ancestors.
The Lunar New Year is also a major public holiday across several other countries and territories across Asia.
Hong Kong's Peninsula hotel is hoping to cash in on Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Year starting the same day this year, the first time in decades in what has been dubbed locally as "double happiness".
The swanky hotel is offering a helicopter service which lets boyfriends propose to their sweetheart or married couples exchange vows mid-flight as they watch fireworks in the city's famed Victoria Harbour.
Hotel spokeswoman Winvy Lung said Hong Kongers can still do a traditional visit with relatives during the day and then celebrate Valentine's Day together in the evening.
"It's very rare that this would happen,' she said of the two celebrations coinciding.
"It is traditional for people to spend time with relatives during the day but we can foresee that many couples would still like to celebrate Valentine's Day in the evening."
But not everyone in Hong Kong is enjoying "double happiness".
Vince Chan, owner of Peanut Florists, complained that her Valentine's Day flower orders have plunged this year.
"There's no need for customers to buy extra things for Valentines Day if they're doing it for (Chinese New Year)," she said.
Singapore's first casino will start operating on Sunday, in time for the Lunar New Year, the operator said Thursday.
T
The opening of the Resorts World Sentosa casino followed the launch in January of four premium hotels at the 4.4 billion US dollar complex built by Malaysian gaming giant Genting.
In Australia, festivities kicked off Friday in Sydney's Belmore Park, where more than 5,000 people attended the opening of a 17-day cultural festival that has been billed as the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations outside Asia. (AFp/IP)
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