Happy Chinese New Year from China itself! It's the year of the sheep/goat/ram (it all means the same in the Chinese symbol used to describe it). Before I actually experienced CNY I was convinced I would be coming back here in 2018 to celebrate the year of the dog, but I am pretty sure I saw 10 times as many dragons and lions as sheep/rams/goats so I don't think that will be necessary. I definitely had the wrong expectations for what CNY would be (I legitimately thought people would be dressed in dragon costumes running around the streets for three days straight) but it was really interesting to observe nonetheless.
Chinese New Year is a seriously AWESOME holiday. It gets three full days of celebrations and weeks of preparation and decorations. It combines all of the best aspects of all typical holidays into one. You get presents (meaning cash in red envelopes). There are big dinners and everyone spends time with their family and friends. Some people dress up, there are firework displays and parades, decorations all over the city and you get two weeks off for break. It was really interesting to observe this holiday and its traditions since I am so accustomed to traditional holidays in America.
I noticed that the holiday has a lot to do with luck and superstitions. Most of the typical CNY decorations were supposed to be "lucky" (for example, mandarin trees). During the parade, everyone wanted to touch the lions and dragons when they came by for good luck. I was standing closest to the street during the parade and got crushed every time a lion came by when everyone could reach out to rub them.
While CNY was really enjoyable and interesting, I definitely think it would have been exciting (and more profitable) if I had a family to spend it with. It is a very family-oriented holiday so it was the equivalent of me going to the Macy's Day Parade and then not having a family to eat a turkey dinner with. Nonetheless, I had so much fun during CNY and made some great memories with wonderful friends. Plus, I can't argue with a break from school (Now it's time for midterms!)
Here are some of HK's most popular CNY events that I went to:
Chinese New Year is a seriously AWESOME holiday. It gets three full days of celebrations and weeks of preparation and decorations. It combines all of the best aspects of all typical holidays into one. You get presents (meaning cash in red envelopes). There are big dinners and everyone spends time with their family and friends. Some people dress up, there are firework displays and parades, decorations all over the city and you get two weeks off for break. It was really interesting to observe this holiday and its traditions since I am so accustomed to traditional holidays in America.
I noticed that the holiday has a lot to do with luck and superstitions. Most of the typical CNY decorations were supposed to be "lucky" (for example, mandarin trees). During the parade, everyone wanted to touch the lions and dragons when they came by for good luck. I was standing closest to the street during the parade and got crushed every time a lion came by when everyone could reach out to rub them.
While CNY was really enjoyable and interesting, I definitely think it would have been exciting (and more profitable) if I had a family to spend it with. It is a very family-oriented holiday so it was the equivalent of me going to the Macy's Day Parade and then not having a family to eat a turkey dinner with. Nonetheless, I had so much fun during CNY and made some great memories with wonderful friends. Plus, I can't argue with a break from school (Now it's time for midterms!)
Here are some of HK's most popular CNY events that I went to:
- Flower/Lantern market: This market goes on throughout lunar break up until New Year's Eve. Taynah and I went on New Year's Eve and it set my expectations for the week pretty high. The particular market we went to was HUGE-the biggest in HK. There were rows and rows of stands set up selling traditional CNY flowers (mandarin trees, plum blossoms and other flowers associated with the holiday), red packets (to put the money in), pinwheels, desserts, stuffed animals (I got a sheep), and balloons. And, of course, goat ear headbands. The market was packed. I couldn't even walk, I just got shuffled along down the aisles by all the people.
- CNY parade: The parade was a whole lot of anticipation combined with a bit of let down. The night before the parade, police were already closing roads and setting up gates. Everyone seemed involved in this parade and it looked like it was going to be a great show. A group of exchange and I met up three hours before the parade to walk over and get good spots. We ended up just one row away from the front. Turns out we were at the end of the parade route so we ended up waiting a little under four hours for the parade to come by. The crowd thickened so much that police wouldn't let anyone else come on the street to watch the parade. There were people everywhere, you could not even turn around it was so packed. Finally, the parade started. Turns out all the performances were maybe 50 feet down the street from where we were standing so we could not see them. We just got to see all the panting dancers walk past us and wave. We got to see the floats and dragons as they walked by as well which was cool.
- CNY Fireworks: I have seen many wonderful fireworks shows before but never over a gorgeous harbor. They were very beautiful and even had some in the shape of Chinese symbols which was very cool. My friends and I had so much fun listening to the locals standing around us. Everyone sounded like they have never seen fireworks before--they were in complete shock and awe all around us, making audible "oooooh's" and "ahhhh's."
I seriously love dragons and Asia's interpretation of them. This is a dragon from the CNY parade. They are carried on multiple sticks by people and paraded through the streets. It was great (except for when I got tackled when everyone went to pet it).