China embraces Spring Festival with various folk activities

Cities and towns across China are celebrating the approaching Spring Festival with vibrant folk performances, festive activities, and spectacular light displays. From China's north to south, celebration activities are staged with distinctive regional traditions.

In Altay of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, dragon dance parades featured horse riders and performance with Dombra, a traditional music instrument of the local Kazak people. In the Huize Ancient Town of Yunnan Province in southwest China, intangible cultural heritage shows and interactive folk activities in the historic alleys brought visitors a fresh Chinese New Year experience.

Holiday markets have opened nationwide. In Mudanjiang City in Heilongjiang Province in northeast China，a large fair has attracted residents and tourists with festive goods and local delicacies. In Changxing county in east China's Zhejiang province, visitors have been enjoying a traditional "fish and mutton banquet" featuring authentic local Chinese New Year flavors. Meanwhile, in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, a century-old flower market has been crowded with shoppers seeking to bring springtime blooms into their homes for the holiday.

From urban centers to rural areas, the festive atmosphere permeated day to night. In Beijing, colorful lights adorn 300 sites, ranging from historic landmarks to modern skyscrapers. Shopping districts in Shanghai have featured lanterns with auspicious themes. In Shangrao in east China's Jiangxi Province, residents of an ancient town paraded a 100-meter dragon lantern through historic streets.

This years' Spring Festival falls on Feb 17, ushering in the Year of the Horse, the seventh animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

China embraces Spring Festival with various folk activities

Global food commodity prices climbed for a second consecutive month in March, driven mainly by higher energy costs linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in report released on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1.0 percent above its level a year ago.

According to the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Index and Sugar Price Index showed the largest increases, up 5.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 1.5 percent from the previous month, driven primarily by higher world wheat prices, which rose 4.3 percent.

The FAO Meat Price Index rose by 1.0 percent from the previous month, and the FAO All-Rice Price Index declined by 3.0 percent in March, according to the report.

FAO stated that rising energy and fertilizer prices have been driving up agricultural input costs.

If the conflict stretches beyond 40 days, farmers will have to choose to farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.

These choices will hit future yields and shape food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and beyond, Torero said.

Global food prices rise for 2nd consecutive month in March amid Middle East conflict: FAO