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Expatriates who have spent many years in China are beginning to notice changes in the way the Spring Festival is being celebrated compared with traditional celebrations.

Hester Smith, 11, is an American girl who has grown up with Disney movies. She traveled to China to spend the Spring Festival with her parents, who are working in Shenzhen. The Smiths, who have been in China for six years, planned a good old-fashioned Spring Festival celebration: a dinner of Chinese dishes followed by watching the CCTV Spring Festival gala.

Hester's father, Dave Smith, is a business manager at a petroleum company in Shenzhen. Since celebrating his first Spring Festival in China in 1999, Smith has been a big fan of the festive occasion when he can enjoy all forms of holiday revelry, from age-old temple fairs and flower fairs to morning-to-night shopping in department stores and outdoor markets. Every Spring Festival he treats his friends with home-made dumplings and traditional Chinese liquor at home.

"It is almost a tradition to gather together at Smith's home and we usually drive to the suburb where we are allowed to set off fireworks," said Tracy Bond, an old friend of the Smiths.

However, Smith has noticed more and more local Chinese are flocking to foreign grocery stores to buy imported wines and there were also fewer vacant seats at McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut during the Spring Festival.

"The time has gone when Chinese families sit around the TV for the festival. Some of my neighbors have already gone on trips and others are hanging out in bars and keeping fit," said his wife Susan Smith.

Despite new festival trends, the American couple intended to carry on the old tradition of having a fun-filled Chinese New Year.

"To make sure my daughter grows up with memories of a traditional Chinese New Year, I plan to involve her in spring-cleaning, making delicacies, growing narcissus and posting couplets," said Susan Smith.

One who looks forward to taking part in traditional customs, Tracy Bond was struck by how the holiday was adapting to modern life.

"In the past, I received lots of new-year cards from Chinese friends. But now they send me warm wishes via the Internet or mobile phone messages," Bond said.

She recalled the time when firecrackers were not forbidden in most cities.

"Now, the festive sound of bursting firecrackers on Chinese New Year's Eve has been replaced by the non-stop ringing of greeting phone calls. But I found the Chinese New Year was less exciting without the firecrackers," said Bond.

Spring Festival is most traditional and cherished by Chinese. As most expatriates are sticking to the old-fashioned celebrations, Chinese people also feel the progress of the nation's modernization while enjoying the traditional Chinese culture.

Editor: Catherine