China entering New Year with less pork, more thrift

Shanghai

THE coming Lunar New Year will be a damp squib for Ding Shen, the 34-year-old owner of Beautiful Scenery Fireworks, who like a lot of China's entrepreneurs is counting the cost of an economy growing at its slowest for nearly a quarter of century. "If you don't have money, you're not going to buy fireworks," said Mr Ding, who runs a store in Shanghai and a factory in the south-central province Hunan.

Fireworks, an essential part of the celebrations, are traditionally set off everywhere - on streets, in courtyards and even off rooftops - during the week-long holiday.