The traditional Spring Festival is still valued by the majority of Chinese in an increasingly diversified world, an online poll has found.
In an ongoing survey launched over the weekend by China's major portal sina.com, 70 percent of the nearly 11,000 respondents said they will travel back to their parents' home for the Lunar New Year celebrations.
When asked if they consider "going home for the festival" something that doesn't matter much, 77 percent said "No."
Those who don't return home cited various reasons including tight work schedules and difficulties in buying a ticket due to the travel rush.
In an affiliated poll about festival traditions, nearly half of the 1,418 respondents said they will light firecrackers for good luck, and 17 percent said they won't have a haircut in the first month after the festival due to an old belief that says one's uncle will die if one has a haircut.
(Shanghai Daily January 13, 2009)