Festive haircuts hoped to bring extra trimmings

"I sent invites to my customers via social media a week ago, reminding them to book their appointments ahead of the rush," said Liu Fujia, a manager of a hair salon in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. "There are eight hairdressers in my salon and as of 5 pm we have received around 100 customers, twice as much as usual.

"Some customers have to wait for more than an hour," he said. "I didn't have my lunch until 4 pm, but I feel happy to attract a large number of customers for the annual ritual."

Chinese people overseas also had their own way of celebrating the festival.

A group of medical workers in Gambia, who had arrived in June, participated in group haircuts and hairstyling activities. Team members got a brand-new look after their teammate Wang Guang gave them haircuts, bringing home a little closer for a moment in a faraway land.

In East China's Fujian province, people eat tofu balls and often make tofu and vegetable balls to pray for the family and for prosperity.

In parts of Shandong province, fried beans are the traditional festival fare.

Meanwhile, other foods, like dumplings, spring rolls and popcorn, are named after dragon body parts to mark the day. Noodles are dragon's whiskers (longxu), dumplings are dragon's ears (long'er), spring rolls are dragon's scales (longlin), and popcorn is dragon seeds (longzi).