Highway and interstate road closures across Seattle area this weekend

Lunar New Year

Originally published January 29, 2008 at 2:22 pm

A young girl dresses up as a mouse to celebrate the Year of the Rat during an event in Hong Kong. Chinese will celebrate the new year on February 7.

Radish dim sum made in the shape of rats to celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year of the Rat are displayed at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

Tourists walk past an arc decoration installed for the lunar new year at the South Gate of Xian City Wall in Xian of Shaanxi Province, China.

A woman shops for lanterns in Shenyang in northeast China’s Liaoning province. The lanterns are sold for Lunar New Year celebrations during China’s biggest holiday, also called Spring Festival.

A worker prepares Chinese lanterns in preparation for the up coming lunar year of the rat at a shopping center in Beijing, The country’s Cabinet said it would soon introduce partial price freezes on basic commodities such as gas and oil and crack down on profiteering, hoarding and other activities that are fueling inflation as Chinas’ New Year, the nation’s most important holiday, is next month.

Travelers crowd the ticket windows at a railway station in Beijing. China’s railways are expecting to carry a record 178.6 million passengers during the Lunar New Year period, the nation’s most important holiday, state media said early this month.

Motorcyclists ride under lanterns and decorative lighting hung on trees for the lunar New Year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Shoppers look for decorations to be used at the Chinese New Year celebration in Bangkok, Thailand.

A Thai-Chinese man writes Chinese characters to sell at his roadside shop in Bangkok, Thailand. The written papers are used in the Chinese New Year celebrations.

A girl looks at rats made of jade for sale at a roadside shop in Bangkok, Thailand. Chinese will celebrate their New Year, the lunar Year of the Rat, on February 7.

A woman poses for pictures among red lanterns installed for the lunar new year at a square in Wuhan of Hubei Province, China.

A worker prepares a Chinese traditional lantern to hang up for the upcoming Chinese New Year of the Rat at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Year of the Rat is a year of plenty, bringing opportunity and good prospects.

Seattle Times staff

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