In the first three days of the Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year,
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited local residents, workers who
stuck to their posts in the week-long holidays and needy families
in northwestern Gansu Province.
On the morning of Feb. 18, Hu and other officials visited the
"small West Lake" park in the provincial capital Lanzhou City. The
park was bustling with people performing the lion dance and yangge
dance -- popular rural folk dances, playing endemic opera and
displaying traditional home-made handicrafts.
Hu extended New Year's greetings to the crowd in the park and
drew a dragon picture together with a pupil there, wishing the
nation stronger and more prosperous.
The lunar new year of 2007, which starts on February 18, is also
the Year of Pig. To most Chinese, the pig is considered a symbol of
wealth and good fortune.
Hu then visited the provincial meteorological bureau, water
supply company and Lanzhou branch of PetroChina, extending his
regards to the staff staying at posts in holidays.
Farmers were always a group that the President is concerned
about most. In the barren countryside of Dingxi City, Hu paid a
special visit to local poor farmer Yong Wanbao's family.
Hu chatted with Yong about his life, farmland and incomes. "You
might have encountered temporary difficulties. The Party and the
government will by all means help you pull through the plight. Your
life will surely get better," Hu said.
He urged local governments to follow the scientific concept of
development and grasp the opportunities brought about by the
state's strategy of developing the vast western areas, so as to
improve the local people's living standards and contribute to the
building of a harmonious society.
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2007)
