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Subdued Masses Usher in Chinese New Year

But fears for economy temper enthusiasm

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 26, 2009 7:19 AM CST

(Newser) – Millions worldwide are marking the Chinese New Year with parties, firecrackers, and feasts, the BBC reports. But celebrations of the Lunar New Year, the most important Chinese holiday, were tempered by concerns about the economy in the coming Year of the Ox. In Beijing, many lit incense and prayed for a year of prosperity.

The Year of the Ox is associated with “calm, fortitude, and success through toil,” the BBC notes. But job losses in China have already prompted protests, offering a glimpse at what the government must grapple with in the coming year. President Hu Jintao today vowed more “equal development across society,” and the government said it would help train some 1 million jobless college grads in the next three years.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

An Indonesian man burns discarded joss sticks during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations at a Chinese temple in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia early Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/BinsarBakkara)

A man prays with joss sticks at a crowded temple to celebrate Chinese new year Monday Jan. 26, 2009 in Shanghai, China. Millions of Chinese celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Ox. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Chinese burn joss-sticks as they offer prayers at a temple during the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A visitor takes a picture in front of a Chinese New Year's poster outside a Hong Kong shopping mall to celebrate the year of the Ox Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Chinese visit a giant lantern surrounded with Ox statues on the eve of the Lunar Chinese New Year in Guangzhou of south China's Guangdong province on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

A Filipino trader blows a horn as he holds an ox doll at the Philippine Stock Exchange at the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Monday Jan. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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Fireworks ring in the new year in Beijing. (TheGuardian)

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Subdued Masses Usher in Chinese New Year