Online CNY bazaar among festivities on new Zaobao microsite

SINGAPORE - Those who miss the familiar bustle of the traditional Chinese New Year (CNY) bazaar can still get a taste of festivities at a newly launched microsite.

To welcome the Year of the Tiger, Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao has set up virtual stalls at its online bazaar, where readers can get recipes for familiar Chinese New Year dishes, fortune predictions and heartfelt greetings from local and regional celebrities.

While large-scale Chinese New Year bazaars are not allowed given the current Covid-19 restrictions, readers can still get in the New Year mood with live-streamed shows, while the tech-savvy can download original Year of the Tiger stickers for Telegram, WhatsApp and WeChat.

Among the highlights of the microsite are CNY-themed articles and tips, and live programmes that feature the unboxing of new year goods, fortune predictions for the 12 Chinese zodiacs, cooking shows with guest chefs for whipping up festive delicacies, and a concert.

Ms Han Yong May, executive editor of Lianhe Zaobao, said: "The bustling CNY bazaar has always been a highlight during the CNY festive period in Singapore. Due to the pandemic, there has been no CNY bazaar in Chinatown for the past two years to the disappointment of many.

"Therefore, we adopted this theme when we designed the CNY interactive page, hoping that our readers can also enjoy the lively festive atmosphere online."

With auspicious cheering still disallowed while tossing yusheng (raw fish) Zaobao has also created an online tool dubbed the "2-in-1 Lohei Butler" so that readers can tap either a video guide or sound menu to facilitate their cheering as they lohei.

Readers can access the tool here.

Free premium content will also be made accessible to all readers, including non-subscribers, on Zaobao's website from Jan 31 to Feb 3.