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In Seoul, the capital of South Korea, the streets are packed with people hoping to stock up on traditional products for the festival.

"These chestnuts² are big so they’re good," said a South Korean woman.

Malls and supermarkets are also attracting people with pretty gift boxes. And this year it seems that punters are being particularly health conscious, with sales of health foods up by 17 percent.

And heading south to Vietnam. On the eve of little new year, a week before the main celebrations, people here made zongzi, or glutinous³ rice dumplings wrapped in leaves. They also wrote calligraphy⁴ and prayed for good fortune for the coming year. A bamboo pole was also erected⁵, with limestone⁶ powder covering the ground around it. One tradition is to mark out a bow and arrow shape with the powder.

"The bow can ward⁷ off evil spirits and misfortune. And the spell I said is used for praying to the god of heaven to give peace to this land," said a Vietnamese man.

Lion and dragon dancing is also an indispensable feature of the festival here.

And in Singapore, the festive⁸ atmosphere is no different. Streets are crowded with shoppers here as the new year is only days away.

And it's not just in countries where the Lunar New Year is traditionally celebrated that events are taking place. In Iran over 3,000 personalities⁹ gathered to celebrate the "Spring Festival in Iran" event, hosted by the Chinese embassy. Dancers from Iran's Red Dragon Kong Fu Team performed lion dances; some performers were particularly young. Chinese food and even TCM were popular parts of the event.

"More and more Iranian people are accepting Traditional Chinese Medicine. Iran also has its own traditional medicine but people think Chinese medicine can also be helpful," said a Philippine man.

So it seems that across the region and further afield the impending¹⁰ festivities are creating quite a buzz.

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