YANGON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Some joyful young men and children in small groups were beating up their big and small drums and making house-to-house calls with lion dances performances in the streets to bless for wealth of the local Chinese residents.

They were presented with "Hong Bao" (red packet with money inside) in return for their calls.

This was a scene in Yangon's Chinatown on Sunday morning, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year 2007.

Before their calls at social organizational establishments such as some respective native associations, and individual private residences, the lion dancing groups first have to visit major temples in the downtown to pay respects to the Chinese Buddha and then proceed their respective calls as planned in accordance with their local traditional practice, a leader of a lion dancing group, who was sweating for having led the group for the procession and call for almost hours since early morning, told Xinhua.

Along with the lion dancing groups, other martial art demonstration groups of some social organizations were also seen on their journeys of visiting houses of own members of their organizations. Such mobile groups take days to complete their trips for the calls.

Besides, some people were seen arranging to visit their close relatives as new year calls to exchange seasonable gifts. "It is my duty to take children to make calls at relatives every new year," a Yangon female Chinese resident of middle age said.

In fact, Myanmar-Chinese people in Yangon started the preparatory activities for the spring festival three days ago before the fall of the new year.

The 24-hour provisional Chinatown new year open air market, which was introduced until Saturday evening, the eve of the new year, was extended from the roadside to occupy half of the main traffic road. Crowded with a wave of purchasers, the market was filled with countless items of new year special purchase goods mostly imported through the Muse trade point of Myanmar-China border.

These items cover red lanterns in various sizes, replicas of firecracker, golden blocks and coins, paintings featuring the spring festival including antithetical couplets, sweets and biscuits, meat and vegetable, and other decoration materials for the festival.

On Saturday afternoon, which was the new year's eve, families of Myanmar-Chinese, inherited with Chinese traditions and customs, prepared their meal in the best form all year round which is rich with meat, especially pork, chicken and duck, wine and beverages, and had their lunches deliciously after paying worship to their ancestors, the signboards of whom are generally erected at the wall of house for almost all families.

Many Myanmar-Chinese families spent the night of the new year's eve by staying up late or all night to observe the moment of changing to a new calendar year of pig with part of their family members having gone to some Buddhist temples at the night to pay homage to Lord Buddha and Guanyin, the goddess of mercy in Buddhist legend.

There are two relatively larger temples in the Chinatown, one is for Guangdong natives and another for Fujian natives. Both temples were immediately overfilled with pilgrims as soon as big drums at the temples were beaten at punctual 24:00 hours last midnight to signal the ushering in of the new year.

On Sunday, the 1st of the new Chinese calendar year, Yangon Chinese residents, like previous years, used to go on picnic for recreation and relaxation such as pagodas, temples, zoos and gardens, and spend the day time there.

In fact, the Myanmar-Chinese community has been making full preparations for celebrating the traditional spring festival since three months ago especially with arts and cultural organizations conducting rehearsals of their musical and dancing programs to be presented at their respective shows scheduled on the new year days.

There come three major social organizations -- Koolun Association, Overseas Chinese New Year Carol Singing Group (OCNYCSG) and Guangdong Music Band (GMB) which lead in staging performances with songs and dances in the new year days and those events are to be attended by Chinese embassy officials, Myanmar guests, social dignitaries and family members of the organizations. The Koolun features its playing of orchestra, while the OCCSG and the GMB specialize in playing guitar.

On Sunday evening, overseas Chinese residing in Myanmar's Yangon city are scheduled to gather at the Chinese restaurant "Meihua" in Chinatown, to make new year calls on each other to celebrate the Chinese traditional spring festival. Blessing for better prospects in the new year, the function will be attached with cultural performance by the OCNYCSG. The two-hour performance will feature singing and dancing programs.

There were still some organizations sponsoring charity activities to seek donations from people to help the aged and the poor in marking the festival.

Long queues of elderly people, also like previous years, were seen in front of the Guangdong Temple and the Mutai Temple as well as other Myanmar-Chinese religious institutions receiving cashes of relief donated by individuals and associations a few days before the set in of the spring festival.

The colorful new year festive activities in Yangon of the Myanmar-Chinese people will last until the Lantern Festival, the 15th of the first lunar month.