People in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province pick hangings with Chinese character "Fu (fortune)" at a market on Monday. Photo: cnsphoto

The Chinese Lunar New Year will arrive on Saturday. Chinese people across the country and around the world are preparing to welcome the year of mouse with various traditions.

Chinese people value celebrating the New Year with families.

As of Monday, the national railway has served 12.24 million trips within 11 days since the peak travel season started, a 19.8 percent year-on-year increase. A total of 1,370 temporary trains have been added, China National Radio reported Tuesday. 

Traditional conventions in Spring Festival vary across China.

In Chaozhou, South China's Guangdong Province, people march with god sculptures from temples. "The gong and drum band would follow the firecrackers in the march," Chen Aijing, a Chaozhou resident, told the Global Times. 

"Each village would have different dates to celebrate. There would be performance for Chaozhou operas and traditional puppet play," she said.

Several days before the New Year day, people in Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital city go shopping in "Flower Street" where one can buy almost anything. On December 28 of the Lunar Calendar, families clean their houses. On the New Year Day, they make rice cakes, according to Zhao Shi, a local resident.

In Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, there used to be dragon and lion dances, but the convention has been replaced by a lighting show. "Dried fish, meat and sausages are a must for Spring Festival," a local university student Wu Han said.

Wu interns in Chongli, North China's Hebei Province. Due to the spread of pneumonia in his home city, Wu hesitated whether he would return home.

In the northeastern provinces, people usually stay indoors during the festival due to cold temperatures.

"Watching the Spring Festival gala is a must for us," Lun Yu, a resident from Da-

qing, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday. Her big family gathers together on the New Year eve and makes dumplings with fillings of sauerkraut and pork. The dumplings are served on the table right at midnight.

For Chinese living overseas, it is often difficult for them to go home at Spring Festival. Tina Ma, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, decided to visit a friend in Brisbane. "We plan to have a big meal and watch the gala on the internet," she told the Global Times.

Police officers perform traditional dance at a Spring Festival gala in Du'an Yao autonomous county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sunday. Photo: cnsphoto

Colored lanterns featuring the Red Army displayed in Zunyi, Southwest China's Guizhou Province. Photo: cnsphoto

A child is attracted by holiday decorations at a Spring Festival market in San Francisco. Photo: cnsphoto

A child tries the head decoration of Chakhar clan in Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at an event to celebrate Spring Festival. Photo: cnsphoto

A man is writing couplets at the National Library of China in Beijing on Tuesday. An Exhibition on folk arts and intangible cultural heritage about Spring Festival kicks off here. Photo: Li Hao/GT