On Christmas Eve, 2001, Shanghai residents sent 12.19 million short messages via mobile phones, double November's daily average of 6 million.

Traffic flow on Hengshan Road, the city's famous bar street, also doubled on Christmas Eve, as crowds flooded to churches, restaurants, discos and coffee bars to celebrate the western holiday season.

Many reservations had to be made a week in advance such as for bowling alleys or Christmas Eve dinner functions.

Most taxi drivers did well on Christmas Eve and were pleased with the number of passengers but disturbed by the traffic congestion.

All McDonald's and KFC city outlets had "Christmas specials", afestive atmosphere, and waiters in Santa Clause costumes.

Brightly-lit Christmas trees decorated with festivally wrapped gifts were seen in most downtown malls and hotels. The charm and excitement of Christmas has captured the young, the middle-aged and even the old. "Over half the cards I received at the end of the year conveyed Christmas greetings," said Gu Xiaoming, a history professor at Fudan University, who described Christmas as a holiday that "preludes a new year" but is not as formal as the Spring Festival.

"It is therefore a good time for entertainment, shopping and getting together", he said.

Just one week after the Christmas hustle and bustle, Shanghaiers celebrated their three-day New Year holiday but this was simply time-out for most people.

Although many Shanghaiers joined the New Year countdowns at downtown squares or beside the Huangpu River, this New Year's Eve was quieter than the last two, when people were excited about the coming of the new millennium.

Fewer people went on sightseeing tours during this holiday, according to a local travel service source.

"Few were interested in our routes featuring ice and snow in the north, or the subtropical scenery in the southernmost Hainan Province," said an executive from Shanghai International Travel Service.

Statistics from the city's tourism administration show the tourist receipts went down by 40 percent during the New Year holiday.

Insiders said most people had canceled or postponed their travel plans because of the cold weather and insufficient time. One thought three days not enough for traveling.

New Year's Day was overshadowed by Christmas, a western holidaythat has become increasingly popular in China, and by the approaching Spring Festival, which is the start of the new year inthe Chinese lunar calendar, said Professor Gu.

"Most people are planning to travel and shop during the Spring Festival, when they will have a seven-day holiday," said Gu.

(eastday.com January 7, 2002)