Shanghai welcomed the new year with a boisterous mix of the modern and classical - from pop music and fireworks at the Xintiandi entertainment complex to candlelight and bells at the 1,790-year-old Longhua Temple.

Thousands of revelers flood the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall early this morning to celebrate the new year. The city has organized a variety of activities for residents and tourists during the threeday New Year holiday. [photo: shanghaidaily.com]

Some 60,000 city residents and tourists gathered at Xintiandi last night for the annual countdown party along Taiping Lake, featuring Chinese-American singer Wang Lee-hom and other performers.

Among the celebrants was Germany's Frank Finsterbusch, who said his new year's resolution is "to have more money but less stress." His most memorable event during the past year was no surprise: the soccer World Cup, which his country hosted.

Carla Bridge of New Zealand said she hopes to have more adventures in the coming year and make more friends. The traveling Kiwi said her most unforgettable memory from 2006 was a trip to Tibet in May.

Though rain is forecast for rest of the holiday, the sky was clear last night.

Cary Chung, a major in the Auxiliary Police Band of Hong Kong, filled the night air with a Scottish-flavor bagpipe show from the balcony of Xintiandi's Tourneau Club. He also celebrated the arrival of the previous new year in Shanghai.

"Last year, it was so cold that I had to wear something under my kilt," Chung said. "This year, it's a little warmer." And that's as much as he would say about his attire.

At Nanjing Road's Century Plaza, crowds of people joined in a New York Times Square-style countdown and a charity gala held to support the Special Olympics, which is scheduled for Shanghai in October.

College student Wang Yongchun and his friends arrived in the plaza at 9pm to await a performance by their idol, Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen.

Sweden's Bernd Aurich, who's in town on a business trip, said the New Year's Eve made him homesick, but he's glad to be celebrating with his friends in Shanghai.

William Qian, a resident of northeastern China who's been working in Shanghai for more than four years, said his new year's wish is to buy an apartment in the city.

At Longhua Temple in southwest Shanghai, visitors jostled to tie written messages to a "wishing tree," a traditional event. As usual, 108 guests struck the 3,000-kilogram bronze bell in the temple's tower beginning shortly after 11:30pm, an act believed to bring fortune.

Chinese-American Benjamin Lee was among the 10,000 people at the temple. Returning to the city after four years, Lee said the event made him "feel at home." Lee, whose most unforgettable memory last year was finding a girlfriend, said he hopes to get a new job when he returns to New York City.