BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Spring Festival, or "chunjie" in Chinese, is the most important festival of the year for Chinese. 2021 is the Chinese Year of the Ox, the second sign in the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle. In Chinese culture, the ox symbolizes diligence, dedication, endeavor and strength.
People visit the Old North Market during the Lunar New Year holiday in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)
Guo Yushuo (C) eats dumplings made by his mother Hao Manling (R) on the platform in Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Li An)
A performer presents traditional clothes at a shopping mall in east China's Shanghai, Feb. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)
An artist performs at Qingzhou ancient town scenic area in east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 16, 2021. (Photo by Wang Jilin/Xinhua)
Visitors tour the Pingyao Ancient Town on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Jinzhong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 12, 2021. (Photo by Liang Shengren/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Feb. 14, 2021 shows light decorations at a temple fair in Jiajiazhuang Village of Fenyang City, north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
Villagers air-dry Lunar New Year sausages in Dagong Township, Hai'an City, Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 10, 2021. (Photo by Xiang Zhonglin/Xinhua)
Villagers put paper-cuts on the window at their new home to welcome the first Chinese New Year after they shook off poverty in Pingliang, northwest China's Gansu Province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Bin)
Zhang Chunhuan and his family members paste couplets on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Medog, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
Volunteers take photos for workers who stay locally for the Chinese New Year in southwest China's Chongqing, Feb. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Qin Tingfu)
China ushered in the lunar year after a hard yet historic 2020. The country brought the domestic COVID-19 epidemic under control in a short period of time with swift and effective measures, and scattered cluster infections were quickly contained in the past few months.
During the vacation, instead of reunite with family, many people stick to their posts to make sure other people can celebrate the festival safely.
Zheng Yingying, a staff member of Renmin Hospital of Daowai District in Harbin, talks to her son behind a glass door at a quarantine spot where she works in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Siqi)
A staff brings Chinese New Year snacks to people who live at a quarantine spot in Shenyang ,northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)
A medical worker measures the body temperature of a citizen in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
Combo photo shows Nie Huachen holding a package at his working place in Futian Village in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 10, 2021 (L, photo taken by Mao Siqian), and his wife receiving a package in Tongxu County, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 10, 2021 (R, photo taken by Li Jianan).
Miners paste festive decorations at the third mining zone of the Jinchuan Group in Jinchang, northwest China's Gansu Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
China removed all its remaining 52 counties from the poverty list last year -- a historic feat for the world's most populous nation.
Once poor villages are now filled with joys and hopes.
Family members pose for a photo to welcome the first Chinese New Year after they shook off poverty in Nayong County of Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Family members put paper-cuts on the window at their new home to welcome the first Chinese New Year after they shook off poverty in Huize County of Qujing, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)
People nationwide chose not to return home for this year's "chunjie" to support the nation's epidemic prevention efforts.
Wang Yizhu (L) and Du Yan, a couple from Changchun in northeast China's Jilin Province working for the construction project of Fengtai Railway Station, pay a new year call to Wang Yizhu's parents, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)
Delivery men and women have meal to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)
Workers paste Spring Festival couplets during a break at Xilingol convertor station of the State Grid at Xilingol grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Combo photo shows Si Daoyuan making a hand heart gesture in Tonghua, northeast China's Jilin Province, Feb. 9, 2021 (L, photo taken by Xu Chang), and his wife Ni Lujia and their son Si Tongxun making hand heart gestures at home in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, Feb. 9, 2021 (R, photo taken by Yan Linyun).
Combo photo shows Yang Xiaohui making a hand heart gesture at a local police station in Hongqiao District of Tianjin, north China, Feb. 11, 2021 (R, photo taken by Sun Fanyue), and her grandparents making hand heart gestures at home in Handan, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 11, 2021 (L, photo taken by Wang Hongchao).
Zhu Qianyue (L) and her mother Wu Jingyu extends New Year greetings to friends overseas via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)
The Chinese Lunar New Year is a moment of reunion and unity. At this time of renewal, may we all have brighter futures in the Year of the Ox.
A baby born in the Year of the Ox is held by a health care worker at the maternity ward of Urumqi Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Feb. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
