China's southernmost city brimming with Spring Festival excitement

Residents in China's southernmost city, Sansha, are eagerly welcoming the upcoming Spring Festival with a festive vibe.

On Beijing Road on Sansha's Yongxing Island, national flags flutter, flowers bloom, and Spring Festival-themed goods are displayed outside the supermarket.

Local fishermen decorate their homes with the Chinese character "Fu", symbolizing good luck, and couplets to express their best wishes for the new year.

"I wrote this couplet myself, and with my name on it. It means guarding the South China Sea and the Maritime Silk Road well," said Li Qiansa, a local fisherman.

On the Zhaoshu Island, people began to hang lanterns days ahead of the festival to create a warm, lively, and peaceful atmosphere.

"With the hanging of the lanterns and the pasting of Spring Festival couplets, there is a strong atmosphere of Chinese New Year celebration," said Li Haiyun, a resident on the island.

"We hung lanterns all over New Era Square, and colorful lights on the trees. Every fisherman's household has put up couplets and the character 'Fu'. The community is full of the New Year's spirit here," said Wu Peng, director of the Sansha Qilianyu Islands Working Committee.

Outside the Yongle Islands Management Committee building, red lanterns sway in the wind, boosting festivity and looking brighter beneath the blue sky.

"Our committee is actively preparing Spring Festival activities, organizing the transport of lanterns, colorful lights, the decorative character 'Fu' and other materials to the island, creating a strong festive atmosphere for the upcoming Spring Festival," said Zhang Pu, deputy director of Yongle Islands Management Committee's Social Affairs Office.

Brimming with Spring Festival excitement, everyone on the Sansha island is looking forward to the arrival of the Year of the Snake.

The Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 29 this year, or this Wednesday, is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar and an occasion for family reunions.

China's southernmost city brimming with Spring Festival excitement

In a vibrant display of national pride, a neighborhood in Sao Paulo has transformed its street into a massive canvas ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, painting the asphalt in the bold green, yellow, blue, and white of the Brazilian flag.

Overtaken with excitement for the upcoming tournament, residents organized the massive art project themselves, raising 2,000 reais (about 387 U.S. dollars) to buy paint, brushes, and colorful streamers.

Aldecir Santos, who designed the patterns on the streets, said he gathered input from neighbors on how the street should be painted. Together, they settled on a plan that everyone agreed was the best.

"We decided together on the designs and where to put them. Those ones over there, and the World Cup trophy -- my son painted those. The Brazilian flag and the World Cup mascot -- a neighbor named Kaua did those. Basically, everyone had a hand in it," he said.

Neighborhood street decorations to welcome the World Cup are a tradition that goes back decades in Brazil. On this street in Sao Paolo, Brazil's largest city, adults encouraged children to take part in the painting, hopeful that the next generation will continue the spirited practice.

Jonathan Costa Ferreira, who was put in charge of buying the decorating supplies, said the local kids often stopped by after school to ask how they could help.

"We all agreed with the neighbors that the kids should be part of this. That way, they'll have memories of the World Cup. They'll learn that it comes around every four years, how much soccer means to us, and how everyone came together to make our neighborhood look so bright and beautiful," he said.

Sao Paolo neighborhood paints street in national colors as World Cup fever builds