Ministry of Education said there'll be 4.95 million new graduates, 820,000 more than last year. For many graduates, the slim job market has overshadowed their new year.

"In 2006 I visited seven recruitment fairs, distributed more than 50 resumes and went to three interviews," said Xu Liying, a senior student at Shanghai Foreign Trade Institute. "Job offers? Zero."

Xu, an advertisement major, said she's a straight-A student but has been rejected by many employers. "Why is it so difficult to find a job? Give me a job -- that's the best new year gift I would ever dream of."

Citizens in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, woke up on Monday to another bad day: the freezing cold and smoggy weather dampened all their enthusiasm in the new year.

The city, one of the most polluted in China, has had smoggy weather since mid December and visibility was reduced to 100 meters in the worst cases.

Local hospitals were crowded with respiratory disease patients even on the New Year's Day.

"Have you got any idea when it will clear up?" asked a young man who offers yacht rides in the Yellow River that flows through the city. His business has been bad this winter. "Who's keen on taking a ride in a gloomy day and in a contaminated river?"

Like the air, the Yellow River turned red and white last year with industrial flushing and sewage water, which annoyed many citizens in Lanzhou.

"I don't mind working twice as hard to make the city a better place to live," said a cleaner who gave only her family name as Lu. She starts sweeping the ground on a downtown square at 4:30 a.m. every day.