Restaurants and shops across China are gearing up for the Spring Festival rush as hundreds of millions of citizens make preparations to celebrate the holiday which begins with the Chinese Lunar New Year, on Feb 10 this year.

It is China's grandest traditional festival when people across the country return to their hometowns for Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations and family reunions.
Eateries in Ningbo City in east China's Zhejiang Province are getting booked out fast for the holiday, and are busy decorating their premises and preparing festive menus.
"I decided to have the holiday dinner at a restaurant because it's simple and convenient. Moreover, the price is reasonable. I ordered a set meal for 4,888 yuan (about 681 U.S. dollars), and it includes every dish we want. Anyway, it’s much more convenient than cooking dinner at home," said Wei Haidong, a customer who just reserved a table for his family’s Spring Festival Eve dinner.
The manager of the restaurant that Wei booked said the price of their set meal ranges from 3,000 to 9,000 yuan and almost all the 28 private rooms are booked for Lunar New Year’s Eve, with only a few tables left in the main restaurant.
"From October last year, we received reservations one after another, and so far about 90 percent of our tables are booked," said Xiong Ye, manager of another Ningbo restaurant.
Shops selling festive items are equally busy and decoration traders in Yiwu, which produces a significant portion of the world’s festive decorations, including for Lunar New Year, Christmas and Halloween, are trying to keep up with surging demand.
"Nowadays, as people’s living standards have improved, they demand more exquisite and beautiful New Year paintings, so we should pay more attention to our designs," said Lou Baojuan, head of the Yiwu Lunar New Year Paintings Chamber of Commerce.
Yiwu traders say they are selling about 20 percent more festive items for this lunar New Year than they did last year.