Hong Kong (CNN)It’s the most celebratory time of the year in China — but in many cities, festivities have been called off.
Saturday marks the first day of the Lunar New Year, also known in China as Spring Festival. It’s a time when families gather, often traveling huge distances to go home. Revelers gorge on banquets, give each other packets of money known as “hong bao,” wear the lucky color red, and set off firecrackers to scare off the legendary half-dragon, half-lion monster “Nian” who comes out of hiding during Lunar New Year.
But this year, the festive season has become a season of fear.
At a time when people would normally be enjoying New Year festivities, China is experiencing a coronavirus outbreak. In the six weeks since the outbreak began in the central city of Wuhan, 26 people have died and 830 people have fallen ill in mainland China from the virus, which is similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Wuhan — and several surrounding cities — are in partial lockdown. Authorities in Beijing have canceled all large-scale Lunar New Year celebrations, including traditional fairs and celebrations around temples.
And there’s other things that threaten to put a dampener on the holiday period, which lasts for 15 days.
Shanghai Disneyland has temporarily closed its doors. Seven blockbuster movies that were set to hit theaters this weekend have been canceled or postponed — a big deal given the holiday period is usually a huge draw for moviegoers.
Major New Year’s celebrations have also been canceled in the special administrative regions of Macao and Hong Kong, which have each reported two coronavirus cases. Read more…
