– Fears of overcrowding –
Shanghainese have traditionally flocked to the Bund to celebrate the New Year, and more recently the district government overseeing the area has put on official celebrations.
This year’s “countdown” reportedly included a light show, singing performances and finally fireworks.
A new location was chosen specifically due to concerns about overcrowding after nearly 300,000 people turned out to see in 2014, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said.
Most large gatherings in China are carefully controlled by authorities but the country has seen other incidents in which overcrowding has caused panic and deaths.
In 1993, 20 people were killed as New Year’s revellers poured into a narrow street in Hong Kong, at the time still under British rule.
The Bund is opposite the Huangpu river from Pudong, the concentration of towering skyscrapers that epitomises Shanghai’s role at the heart of China’s economic boom.
But despite its position among China’s most advanced cities it has not been immune from accidents and urban management problems, including a fire at a high-rise apartment building in 2010 that left 58 people dead.
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