Tibetans join rest of country in celebrating New Year's eve

LHASA - Tibetans have spent a busy Monday preparing for Losar, or Tibetan New year, which coincides with the Lunar New Year this year.

Early in the morning, Tseringtso, 60 living in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet autonomous region, assigned jobs to do among her family members -- some in charge of shopping, some cleaning, and some decoration.

Monday marked the eve of the upcoming Losar on the Tibetan calendar. The Tibetan New Year is normally celebrated by religious rituals, long prayers, horse races, family gatherings and feasts.

Standing in front of the "Qiema," a two-tier rectangular wooden box containing roasted barley and fried wheat grain, Tseringtso said the decorations on the table -- ears of wheat, a porcelain sheep head, and a pot of highland barley, dates, air-dried beef, candies, nuts, butter, and brown sugar -- symbolize harvest in the next year.