Huge family photograph goes viral

A picture taken using a drone in East China's Zhejiang province has been hailed as the most spectacular family photo of this year's Spring Festival holiday.

It shows 500 members of the Ren family, who gathered in Shishe village, Shengzhou, as part of a project to update their family tree.

They traveled there from their homes in Beijing, Shanghai, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Taiwan.

"It took us two and a half years to complete the new family tree," said Ren Tuanjie, Party chief of Shishe village.

"During Spring Festival, we like to bring all the family members together so as to let our ancestors know where they are."

Family reunions at Lunar New Year are a tradition in China, with many people choosing to commemorate the gatherings by taking photographs.

The Ren family photo has been widely circulated by netizens, with one Sina Weibo user commenting: "It is fortunate that they can all come together and get to know each other."

Ren, the Party chief, said the importance of family should never be underestimated.

"China is moving toward modernity, but Chinese people's roots in their native land never disappear," he said. "Wherever they go, the descendants of any family have always got something to bring them together."

(China Daily USA 02/07/2017 page7)