Chinese wealthier middle class families are celebrating Chinese New Year on a beach in Hainan province in the southernmost part of China.

According to reports, these families choose to trade the cold winter smog for sand and sunshine for a change in their New Year celebration. Meeting the Lunar New Year at the beach is not at all traditional but families with more money are now beginning to reshape the old traditions because they now have more travel opportunities.

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Zheng, a 66-year-old retiree, chose to travel to Hainan because back at home, his grandchildren have to wear a lot of layers of clothes and it's a "pain" for them as compared to being in the beach where the air and the climate is nice and they have to wear only a few clothes.

The wealthier middle class thinks it does not matter where they celebrate Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival as long as their family celebrates the event together. The Chinese New Year is a very important holiday as people fly home and when they cannot make it, Chinese families traditionally leave empty chairs for them at the dining table.

However, more and more people skip flying home and opt to make the journey to Hainan, a place that the snow bird or "climate bird" considers as home. Xinhua News Agency reports that this vacation is fast becoming the new fad among the Chinese elderly.

Also in the report, around 620,000 people a day are coming in via the Sanya Phoenix Airport and the number has been rising twice as much as the average number of Chinese flying in the area for the holiday season. Hainan, which is now being dubbed as "China's Hawaii," was not as popular before as it is now.

Hainan used to be an isolated island and was a place for people who were exiled such as pirates and smugglers. However, it has become a tourist destination due to its tropical temperature a decade ago when Western luxury hotels have been built in the area. 

TagsHainan, snowbird