by Yasir Masood

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Gwadar Pro) - China as one of the most ancient civilizations carries a mammoth history of more than 5,000 years that astonishingly still preserves its unruffled taboos, traditions, and events. One of the year's most illustrious events is the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or "Spring Festival." It's being celebrated worldwide by ethnic Chinese and non-Chinese citizens. The festivities usually last 16 days, from a New Year's Eve family feast through to the Lantern Festival on Day 15. The holiday season begins with the Laba Festival (腊八节—là bā jié) in (lunar) December. That is about 40 days of festivities! Nevertheless, Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month, the start of a new year for China.

Also, Chinese New Year ranges from January 21 to February 20, unlike western holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. This marks the beginning of the lunar calendar, and is the most important holiday in China, a time seen as celebrating the ethos such as harmony and family reunion. Citizens get a formal 7-day holiday from New Year's Eve, which this year starts on Saturday, January the 25th; the 2020 is the year of the rat.

The Largest Human Migration and Travel Rush

Chinese diaspora from near and far and domestic travelling of the masses to their hometowns during Spring Festival gives rise to what's known as "the largest annual human migration in the world". This Lunar New Year which comes earlier than normal is expected to make 2.9 billion trips to celebrate the "Spring Festival". It's estimated that 400 million people are on the move in China alone.

The scale of the migration is astounding: While an estimated 116 million Americans were on the move around the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Chinese citizens will rack up about 3 billion trips during this year's travel-fest.

China's railways expect 440 million trips to take place during the 40-day official travel season called Chunyun, up 8% from the last year. (That translates as "Spring Festival Transportation" and typically starts 15 days before the beginning of the Lunar New Year; this year it's Jan. 10-Feb. 18.) And some 79 million passengers can take flights, up over 8% from 2019. There will be more than 17,000 flights a day on average, an increase of about 13% from 2019. The new Daxing airport in south Beijing is expected to handle 1.9 million trips.

Festival, Feast and China's Growing Market

A blossoming market reflects the vivacity of the economy. Despite a cloud of challenges, China's economy committed 2019 with 6.1% GDP growth, approaching 100 trillion yuan (14.49 trillion U.S. dollars) and outperforming comparable economies. More excitingly, the country has achieved a new milestone with GDP per capita exceeding 10,000 dollars last year, a threshold that several believe ushers in a very new stage for income level, consumption pattern and market size.

China is recognized as a world factory and an enormous global market with the world's largest and fast-growing middle-income group. With consumption upgrading and also the development of cross-border e-commerce and logistics, overseas products can reach big cities and tiny towns across the country. Worldwide places of interest lure Chinese tourists abroad, making outbound traveling a brand new trend during the feast.

Last year, China's domestic tourism revenue gained 513.9 billion yuan (about 76.21 billion U.S. dollars) during the week-long Spring Festival, an annual increase of 8.2%, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. During the Spring Festival holiday last year, 386 million trips were made domestically, contributing to an increase of 475 billion yuan in China's travel revenue which is expected to be much more this year.

Spring Festival Gala

Before the Year of the Rat begins, China will celebrate the year with the 37th Spring Festival Gala, mentioned as Chunwan (春晚). Each year, the four-hour New Year Gala is that the most-watched program within the world, with a minimum of 700 million viewers glued to the televisions.

According to China Jiangsu Net, the gala this year will feature a number of new technologies such as 5 G, Virtual Reality (VR) and ultra-high-definition 4k/8k television. Besides, this year, a number of new language programs are being launched to address broader social issues. The galas will be held in Beijing, Zhengzhou in Henan province and the Greater Bay of Guangdong-Macau-Hong Kong.

Film Season

The Spring Festival has developed into the year's most lucrative film season, with box office records being set each year as Chinese people have begun embracing films as a source of family entertainment during the week-long holiday. During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday in 2019, new films were grossing 5.9 billion yuan ($857 million), reaching a new record for seven days. The Spring Festival could surpass that this year.

Food Imports on the Lunar New Year

Consumers spent 2.3 times more on imported foods during the first round of Spring Festival shopping from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5 compared with the same period last season, according to the latest data from JD Daojia, Dada Group's on-demand retail platform.

According to official data, China became the world's largest imported food buyer in 2017, when, the total cost of importing food from over 170 countries and regions exceeded US$60 billion. This year, the figure can only be higher, as imported food items are no longer the residents' exclusive preserve in first-and second-tier cities. With the rise in people's disposable income in third-to-fifth-tier cities, Belgian beer, Thai rice, and New Zealand milk and milk products have all become part of a long list of affordable options for consumers in cities of lower rank.

Biggest Spending Power on New Year

China's Lunar New Year is also generating the biggest spending power as the most critical festival in a year. Since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative, and with China International Import Expo's two popular models, China has remained consistent on the path of openness. The Lunar New Year has now been transcended through the maritime routes and direct freight train service from China to Europe to be resonated across the continents.

Rationally speaking, a market that connects 1.4 billion Chinese people to global supply chains believes in President Xi Jinping's words, "only when the world is good, is China good. The world can only get better when China is good.”

The author is a former Director of Media and Publications at the Centre of Excellence-China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamabad. He is also a Senior International Relations Analyst with a special focus on China Affairs. He contributes regularly on print and electronic Media. He is currently a PhD Scholar at the UIBE, Beijing.