What's the buzz

Spring Festival is a time for family reunion. People reunite with their families and friends during Spring Festival after a long time, sometimes an entire year. But the festival also sees some weird happenings such as elders setting up blind dates for unmarried young men and women, wage-earners losing a good part of their income in red envelopes (cash gifts) and train delays upsetting passengers' holiday plans. So, what were the Lunar New Year experiences of China Daily's mobile phone news readers? Below are some examples:

The most joyful thing about the Lunar New Year is that I get to hang out with my best friends whom I have known for a decade. Although we indulge in some expensive activities, the money spent is worth the excellent time we spend together and the beautiful memories that stayed with me. No matter where we have been during the past 10 years, we have provided each other with moral support. I feel lucky to have such great friends.

LIANGJIAJINGNV, Xinxiang, Henan province

I feel at a loss every Spring Festival. But I have decided to help my mother with her housework from next year. Besides, I want to set new goals for myself. For instance, I will not set off fireworks from next year because they are harmful to the environment. Also, I will return home earlier to escape the Spring Festival travel peak.

XIAOMIFENG, Hanzhong, Shaanxi province

The happiest thing about this Spring Festival was that all my family members returned to our hometown for a complete reunion, and had the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner and lots of fun together. In the past years, one or the other relative working away from our hometown, especially my cousin who works in Laos, couldn't return home for Spring Festival. Besides, normally I have to be on duty for three days during Spring Festival. But this Lunar New Year has been great.

SUMMER, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region

As a post-1980s mother, I am bored, even irritated, by my relatives' inquiries about when I plan to have a second child. Since the government has allowed couples to have a second child if one of them is the only child of his/her parents, elderly people have found a new subject to make life difficult for young women. What they don't realize is that many couples can't even think of having a second child because of the rising cost of raising a child.

CONNIE, Jinan, Shandong province

For a young unmarried person like me, the most painful part of Spring Festival is elderly relatives' questions about when I'll get married. Whenever my parents get a chance, they push me to find a date and get married. Many of my friends have faced a similar situation at home. I hope my parents realize marriage is not something that can be solemnized in one stroke and, therefore, give singles the space they deserve so that they can spend their holidays in peace.

SANSEXIHONGSHI, Tianjin

I live in a suburban area of Shanghai. Every year, from Lunar New Year's Eve to the fifth day of the first lunar month and on the Lantern Festival, almost every family in my community used to descend on the square near our neighborhood to set off firecrackers. But this year the "tradition" has changed. Although a bit at loss, I think it is good to spend a quiet Spring Festival, especially considering the severe air pollution that a large part of China is suffering from.

CUOTUOLANGZI, Shanghai