: A bang or a whimper? Chinese consumers face first restriction-free Lunar New Year since start of pandemic

Days into the first Lunar New Year without movement restrictions since the start of the pandemic, Chinese consumers say they are eager to spend and travel, but remain wary as a mammoth COVID-19 wave sweeps through the country.

The 15-day festival has long been called the world’s largest migration, in which students and workers return to their hometowns in droves — that is, until COVID hit in 2019.

In…