Fireworks and Dumplings

Here is a list of my very limited knowledge of Chinese New Year. 

1.  It's a fifteen day holiday starting on the first day of the lunar year.  The entire fifteen days is called "Spring Festival."  In Mandarin, the way to greet someone on the holiday is "chun jie kuai le."

2.  Everyone goes home to see their extended families for at least the beginning of the holiday.  That means approximately 1.3 billion people are using China's trains, roads and airports during the same few days.  The first time we encountered this was last night on our overnight bus to Hong Kong.  Everyone was starting to go home and back to work, so we were stuck in traffic gridlock for most of the night, and our bus arrived over four hours late. 

3. Fireworks.  It is possible to buy and set off fireworks on every street corner and that is what people do. 

Apparently it isn't uncommon for people to buy boxes of fireworks and set the whole box on fire in the middle of the street.  We didn't see too much of this up close because we were actually on an overnight train on New Year's Eve, but we did see many fireworks from the train window, and people continue to set off fireworks throughout the fifteen day holiday.

4.  Red is a lucky color in China, and it is everywhere during Spring Festival.  As many of you already know, red is also my lucky color, so I fit right in.

Spring Festival decorations for sale at a market in Kunming

5. On the night before Spring Festival starts, the Chinese government broadcasts a TV special that nearly everyone watches.  It is called the Spring Festival Gala and this year it featured Celine Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On" in Chinese and many other performances.

6.  A big part of Spring Festival is cooking and eating with your family.  This is just one of the many ways that Spring Festival reminds me of Christmas.  In my part of the country, everyone makes dumplings to celebrate the new year.

7.  Parents and grandparents give children money and gifts on Spring Festival.

8.  My friend Ada told me a few traditions from her hometown.  I'm not sure how widespread these traditions are.  One is that on the first day of the holiday, all of the women go around town to the homes of newlywed couples and then decide which bride is the most beautiful.  Later in the week, teenage boys go around to the same young brides and try to play tricks on them.  I guess that Spring Festival must not be the best time of year for newlyweds. 

9.  The last day of Spring Festival is called the Lantern Festival and people set off paper lanterns into the sky and wish for good fortune for the next year. 

This is an incomplete list compiled only from my own experiences.  Since I didn't really spend Chinese New Year with a Chinese family or my Chinese friends, I know I missed out on some experiences.  Still, Spring Festival is a very colorful and joyful time to be exploring China.  Chun Jie Kuai Le!