Year Of The Dragon Could Spark Baby Boom In Asia

05:33

January 23, 2012

Why was billionaire Warren Buffet on TV in China playing "I've Been Working On The Railroad" on his ukelele?

He was helping China ring in the Lunar New Year Monday, and he chose the song because more than a billion Chinese people travel during the holiday period, many of them by train, and Buffet's company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns the railroad operator, Burlington Northern-Santa Fe.

Dragon dance performers in Taipei, Taiwan in October. (AP/Chiang Ying-ying)

Year Of The Dragon

Across Asia, celebrations, like Buffet's, marked the start of the year of the dragon - the only mystical creature of the zodiac's twelve animals - and it's believed to be especially lucky.

That's why many couples across Asia are making an extra effort to give birth to "dragon babies." But that's now triggering a fertility boom and putting public services under pressure. The BBC's Juliana Liu has that story.

This segment aired on January 23, 2012.