Week-long festival celebration gets started -- china.org.cn

Local residents perform lion dance in front of the gate of a temple fair in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province February 6, 2008, the Lunar New Year's Eve. People all across the country are celebrating the most important Chinese festival.

Two children carry dumplings at a communal dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year at a village in Daxing District of Beijing February 6, 2008, the Lunar New Year's Eve. People all across the country are celebrating the most important Chinese festival.

Workers of Huaibei Power Company of Anhui Province make dumplings to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year February 6, 2008. A great number of electricians worked through the festival to ensure power supply to the snow-plagued province, as people all across the country were celebrating the most important Chinese festival.

A red lantern is hung in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in this picture taken February 6, 2008. The Lunar New Year and Tibetan New Year fall on the same day of February 7, 2008 this year.

A train attendant plays the guitar for passengers on a train from Zunyi to Beijing February 6, 2008, the Lunar New Year's Eve. People all across the country are celebrating the most important Chinese festival.

Fireworks explode at a residential complex in Beijing during Lunar New Year celebrations February 6, 2008. People all across the country are celebrating the most important Chinese festival.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2008)