Chinese New Year Preparations for 2018

Preparations for Chinese New Year 2018, the year of the dog, start several weeks before the holiday. People buy red decorations for their doors and homes, and stock up on food. Here's a market a block or so from where I live that sells inexpensive trinkets and treats. The sale of fireworks inside the city limits was banned a few years ago, otherwise you'd see lots of those for sale too.

Quiet holiday

I look forward to Chinese New Year. I have my own traditions, many of which involve photography, eating out, soaking in the culture, and chatting with minority groups (for instance, Tibetans or Muslims) that mill around town because they don't celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

But this year, I missed the holiday. The flu bug bit hard. Instead of running around town, I stayed indoors with the heaters running full blast and a fuzzy doggy warming my feet while I laid on the sofa. I finally had to go out a few times: to get medicine, to buy some veggies when I could find a market that finally re-opened, and to pay my phone bill. The roads seemed deserted. I'd never seen the city like this before. With the ban on fireworks in the city limits, it was eerily quiet. No one is scaring off evil spirits as they re-open their shops after the holidays. No one is inviting the "money god" to bring him riches by setting off the loudest pyrotechnics. I really don't know what everyone did this year. I missed it completely.

Hopefully I'll get another chance to celebrate next year.

The Year of the Rooster

Today is Chinese New Year. I have my usual rituals for celebrating the day, but this year I've set them aside so I can recover from the flu. Yesterday I rode my e-bike on the deserted streets a few minutes, just to soak in the peace and quiet that only comes once a year, and only for a few hours.

I have a cough that is aggravated by cold air and talking. So I'm camping out in my cozy abode this holiday. I hope everyone out there is having fun as they usher in the year of the rooster.

Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year falls on January 28, 2017.

Holiday buzz

There's a buzz in the air as people travel to their hometowns for Chinese New Year, which falls on Saturday, January 28th this year. School is out for a month. The train and bus stations are packed above and beyond normal capacity.

All through town, you see people rolling their luggage. Everyone is on the move!

People are also stocking up on food and supplies, because even though most stores are only closed for three days, many businesses will be closed for two full weeks during the holidays. Even the ones that are open will be short of supplies like meat and produce, because their suppliers are on vacation. I'm stocking up on bottled water, toilet paper, light bulbs, and groceries. No need to stock up on coffee. Starbucks here is open 365 days a year.

People are also buying gifts, in the form of food items in gift boxes. The food may be cookies, cakes, fruit, nuts, wine, etc. Chinese people give the gifts to family members and to people that they visit during the holidays. The beautiful boxes of gift food are often re-gifted. These gift boxes are not cheap, and people need to buy quite a few. Homemade gifts are not considered appropriate. 

This year, fireworks have been banned in the city limits. No fireworks' stands line the roads as usual. I'm pretty excited that I won't have to bring in everything off of my balconies this year. (I have had flaming bits of paper land on my balcony before, so the risk of fire was real.) But I cannot imagine Chinese New Year without massive pyrotechnics. It seems like the mature thing to do, to ban fireworks. But I'm afraid it won't be quite the same.

Hot, snowy and pink

On the last day of January, I took a photo of the confused trees in my apartment complex. It was so warm, they thought it was spring so they started popping out pink buds. The following day (February 1st) it got to 75°F. That kind of warmth in winter never happens around here. We usually get cold and stay that way for six months.

The guards at my apartment complex put Christmas lights in the trees for Chinese New Year (Chinese New Year was January 31st this year). Is it a tradition to put lights in trees for CNY? No. They just thought it looked pretty.

Four days later it was snowing. And the week after that it snowed even more. It didn't stick (not much anyway). All these are pics from that general time frame. There's no snow in the photos, just wet pavement that resulted from it.

Super-sleuth Mimi. Hiding in the grass. Cats beware.

 Look at that plume tail!

Her paw hair has since been trimmed. It really grows fast! It was so long she was almost tripping over it when she jumped on the park bench. I would cut it more often if she wouldn't wiggle around so much when I got the scissors out.

I bet all this pink is making you dizzy. I bet you're headed to the kitchen for a bitter cup of coffee to cut through all the sweetness of this post. Even I'm a little overwhelmed, and I kind of like pink. Don't worry, I'll choose a non-pink color for my next post.

Soothing views of the city

 I live in a beautiful place.

 Ancient, quaint, beautiful, fascinating.

 Traditional homes are built along canals.

 These are not just for decoration; real people live in these homes.

What a beautiful piece of furniture. The arms have drawers in them, and the bodice has doors that open.  It was on display in a shop window.

Today is Chinese New Year. Of all the places I could have ended up, I am glad to have ended up in such a great place as this. I'm sure the world is full of fascinating places and people, but I certainly never get bored of my discoveries in this place.

Fire in the night sky

Warning: Turn your volume down to low before playing this video.

This is the view from my south/southeast facing balcony on Chinese New Year's Eve. The video doesn't really capture the horror of it all, but it's the best I can show you. This is by no means the most fireworks I have ever seen at one time. Yeah, it is even worse than this sometimes. I wish they would ban individual use of fireworks but apparently they are not going to do that in my lifetime.

Video from February 9, 2012. Time: 29 seconds.

The light at the end of the tunnel

The 15th and final day of the Chinese Lunar New Year festival is today. It is known as the Lantern Festival. I went to a park in the late afternoon to take photos of the lanterns. A "temple fair" atmosphere takes place at the park, which is something like a county fair. There was cotton candy, dart throwing at balloons, toys for sale and food.

The photos above and below are, believe it or not, lanterns. At dusk, the lights will be turned on and these will glow. These are huge, like parade floats. In the photo below, even the white building with roof tiles is part of the lantern.

Below are small battery-operated plastic lanterns. Kids carrying them around on sticks to light their way.

The crowds after dark will be so thick that you can't move. That's why I went during daylight hours. It's easier to take photos during the daytime too.

Lots of cheap junk is for sale at the fair.

 Lots of lanterns, big and small, decorate the park.

 More lanterns.

Besides the cotton candy, I didn't see much food like what you'd see at a county fair in America. They had lots of sweets, nuts and grilled meat sticks. This guy is grilling squid on sticks. 

Fireworks are going off. Hopefully it will end at a decent hour. The local kids go back to school tomorrow.

Crazy dog man

I was walking through a village on the morning of Chinese New Year when I ran across this man carrying a dog that looks somewhat similar to Mimi. So, of course, I had to stop and have a chat with the guy. I mean, obviously he has good taste in dogs, if not dog fashion. 

The guy told me his dog was born on August 3, 2003, and was two years older than Mimi. Can you believe that? He didn't even get the dog until it was three months old, and the guy knew the dog's exact birthdate! And he's a man. I knew there were crazy dog ladies in this world, but I was talking with a bona fide crazy dog MAN.

I pretend to know my dog's birthdate, but really, it is just a good estimate, give or take a week.

I got rid of some of Mimi's old clothes in the past month. I should have thought to give them to another Pekingese dog owner. This dog would've looked cute in Mimi's hand-me-downs. I mean, this dog doesn't look BAD, but seriously? Everyone knows that bold horizontal stripes visually add pounds to your figure!

One down, one to go

The women on the right are buying bundles of incense prior to entering the neighborhood Buddhist temple (gold building in the rear on the left side). They will burn the bundles and "pray" for good luck during the coming year. Red candles, also for sale at this table, are also burned inside the temple. Not everyone does this ritual, just some Buddhists (or people who are not Buddhists but hope to garner some kind of good luck anyway.) This temple is on my block and I can see it from my balcony.

The first week of Chinese New Year is over. One more week to go. This year's holiday hasn't seemed as chaotic as most. I think this is because:

• The holidays fell at a good time so that lots of people could travel to other places. Most of my neighbors have been gone for over a week, and I like it when it's quiet!
• It didn't rain on the actual first day of the new year, but it's a 15-day holiday and it has been raining most of the week. It's raining right now. The fire hazard from fireworks is greatly reduced when there is rain. Sure, I had my emergency evacuation kit ready by the front door the other night just in case, but I didn't have to use it.

[What exactly does one put into an emergency evacuation kit? 

For Mimi - leash, dog food, bottled water, drinking bowl, clothing in case we're stranded outside overnight and she gets cold.

For me - flashlight, money, cell phone, cell phone charger, gloves, scarf, hat, jacket, socks, earmuffs, shoes, and a change of clothes, lock box of valuables.]

Oh no you can't!

Hmm. Really? You really think this ugly guy with ear flaps like Mimi's is going to bring you money in the coming year? Uh, no. Sorry to insult your tastes in gods (the "money god"), but he's not worth the paper he's printed on. You can do so much better. There is One True God and His name is Jehovah. He can supply all your needs.

According to tradition, on midnight prior to the fifth day of the lunar new year, whomever sets off the loudest set of fireworks will win the favor of the so-called money god. So they spend all their money on fireworks. And then when they don't have money to pay their electric bill, they wonder what went wrong.

Well, some of them really believe this. But a whole lot of them are just are a little too pumped up for the holiday and set off fireworks for fun, kind of like a competition to see who can be the most obnoxious.

Look who's minding the store

While passing through a village today, Chinese New Year, I found a corner shop open for business. 

We all agree that child labor isn't a good thing, but hey, if you can get a dog to work, then I say, why not?! I hope he's getting time and a half holiday pay.

It's here!

Happy Chinese New Year. Sunday, February 10th, ushered in the Year of the Snake.

A buzz in the air

There's a certain electricity in the air in anticipation of the biggest holiday of the year -- not unlike what we experience at Christmas time. The snow excites the Chinese just as a white Christmas does us. Above: Chinese New Year decorations. These go on your front door, or wherever you want to put them. The Chinese character "fu" can be translated to either luck, good fortune, or blessing.

Ah yes, well if there are not enough of the real thing around, you can buy an imitation firecracker string. I definitely prefer the decorative kind to the real thing.

The woman in the green coat is choosing which decoration will look best on her door.

Trinkets and lanterns are for sale too, all in the auspicious colors of red and gold. For those unfamiliar with the word "auspicious" due to its lack of use in your common everyday vocabulary, it means "propitious." (Kind of teasing with you there...it means favorable.)

Fish offer good luck for some reason I have forgotten. Apparently two is better than one.

In southern areas of China (which is determined by the cleverly positioned Yangtze River), people eat sugar cane for the holidays. Yeah, nothing like chewing and spitting out sugar cane while you set off a bunch of firecrackers and giggle like a gaggle of pre-teen girls at a slumber party.