This past Sunday marked the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in China. Although festivities had been muted for the past three years due to the pandemic, restrictions had been lifted allowing people to make their first trips back to their hometowns to reunite with their families and experience the festive vibe. In Beijing, people flocked to the Qianmen area near Tiananmen Square, while Hong Kongers gathered at Wong Tai Sin Temple and Taipei's Longshan Temple saw smaller crowds than a year ago due to many people venturing to other parts of Taiwan or overseas on long-awaited trips.
The Lunar New Year festivities brought with it much optimism and a hope of the pandemic ending soon. However, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China's Center for Disease Control, warned that the mass movement of people may cause the virus to spread in certain areas. The center has reported 12,660 COVID-19-related deaths between January 13 and 19, including 680 cases of respiratory failure caused by the virus and 11,980 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19.
This year, the Year of the Rabbit, marked the biggest festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago. As communities across Asia welcomed the Year of the Rabbit, the Vietnamese welcomed the Year of the Cat instead. Despite the ongoing pandemic, people across Asia were optimistic for a better year and the Lunar New Year brought with it much hope for a better future.