China, Chinese New Year | featured news

Chinese Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day are only days apart this year, giving a boost to a new and booming business in China -- boyfriend rentals. Taobao, China's popular shopping website, says that online searches for the term "rental boyfriend" have soared by 884 percent over the same period last year. A search for the Chinese characters of "rent-a-boyfriend" on Taobao.com produces more than 2,000 results, at a range of prices.

A celebration of China's lunar new year turned deadly as a firecracker explosion killed 19 and wounded dozens, state media reported Saturday.

Chinese welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Ox with raucous celebrations on Sunday, despite gloom about the economy, setting off firecrackers in the streets and sending fireworks into the sky.

In China, where many businesses count on a New Years shopping boom for a big share of annual sales, the global slowdown hurts and could further depress its falling growth rate.