Amidst a surge in “nationalistic feelings” over the Beijing Olympics and Tibet, anti-West protests spread to more cities across China on Sunday even as government appealed to people to be “calm” and “rational”.

Fresh protests broke out in the north western city of Xi’an, eastern Jinan and central city of Wuhan and the north eastern cities of Harbin and Dalian, following Saturday’s rallies in Beijing, Xi'an, Hefei, Qingdao, Wuhan and Kunming cities.

The protesters stood in front of the stores of French supermarket chain Carrefour, chanting slogans like, “Oppose Tibet independence” and “oppose CNN anti-China statements”, as they took to the streets on top of Internet users venting their anger in recent days against the Western media and disruptions of the Olympic torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco.

More than 1,000 students staged protest near Carrefour in Xi'an holding banners and chanted “support the Olympics”, “Go China” and “Condemn CNN” through loudspeakers, official Xinhua news agency said.

Carrefour has been accused by the Chinese Internet users of supporting the Dalai Lama group, which the French chain has denied.

Meanwhile, a front-page editorial in the People’s Daily newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, appealed to people to cherish patriotism “while expressing it in rational way.”