春节购物

With the Spring Festival falling on Sunday, people are decorating their rooms to create a festive atmosphere. They’re also shopping and preparing the family reunion dinner and New Year holiday.

It’s the busiest time of the year for the catering industry. Many customers have booked tables for family reunion dinners on the eve of Spring Festival. But some will also eat at home. Store owners in Beijing have plenty to offer them to create special dishes.

In Shanghai, people are flocking to stores to buy babao rice, a traditional Spring Festival must-eat. One store can sell more than 20 thousand packets of the rice in a day.

Zhang Zengqiu, deputy manager, said:"We start work at 6:00 am, and are busy making the rice until 9:00 pm."

Beef and mutton sales are high in Xi’an with customers queuing at shops. Meanwhile, the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, falls on February 11th this year. People in areas including Sichuan Province, Qinghai Province and Tibet say it is much easier to get everything done for the festival.

"It’s very convenient to prepare the things for the New Year. I can buy most of the things needed just in Yajiang."

Many people heading home have chosen to buy things online, so they don’t have to carry it. One website says about 2.5 million people have bought goods online in the past week.