恭喜发财
Congratulations and Prosperity!
In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal. The Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Rat, Boar, Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Snake, and Ram are the twelve. Each of these animals are thought to bestow their characteristics to the people born in their year. It is believed to be especially auspicious to be born in the year of the Dragon - and it is said that there will be a popluation spurt in China this year as people seek to welcome a Dragon baby, given the association with wealth and power. It's true that I've noticed a lot of pregnant ladies lately...but maybe just because I am looking. Jeb and his friends born in 2000 are lucky to be dragons!
It's hard to overstate the mania surrounding Chinese New Year here - it certainly rivals or beats Christmas spirit in the U.S. Think decorations on 5th Avenue and multiply. Everywhere you go there are hanging red lanterns, dragon symbols and festive streamers. Houses are decorated with red paper banners which have auspicious sayings written on them. These are hung around doorways and are intended to bring luck to the household for the coming year. Red is an important color in Chinese culture, symbolizing happiness, wealth and longevity...so it's pretty much red, red and more red everywhere you look....
With all the celebration comes incredible traffic and congestion. One of the modern responsibilities of a son or daughter at Chinese New Year is to travel home to spend the New Year with family. Chinese customs rely heavily on filial piety, which means that the children honor and respect their elders, who are in charge of the family throughout their life. On New Year’s Eve (January 22 this year) it is common for the children to travel home for a reunion dinner that includes traditional Chinese foods. The reunion dinner is traditionally celebrated in the home of one of the elders of the family, such as the grandparent’s home. This accounts for the Lunar New Year crush as an estimated 250 million Chinese scramble to get home before the national holiday kicks off Monday. New outlets call this the largest annual migration anywhere in the world. This year there was a hug outpouring of anger as the government's online ticketing service for train and bus tickets (new this year and developed to handle the crush of requests) crashed, causing even greater delays and problems for travelers.
The mayhem is visible everywhere we go - especially the markets. Carrefour is so crowded it's hard to move, and it's stuffed with festive decorations, holiday music and sales, which encourage the shoppers to stock up on boxes and boxes of chinese deliacies (like sliced jellyfish)...causing especially long lines at check out. It's like going to the grocery store on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but 10x worse. So, of course, we had to check it out....
Once again....we are heading into a school vacation week, as all schools and businesses in China close for the first week of the New Year. We had an amazing all-school assembly on Thursday that showcased traditional Chinese dances (Madeline and Hope participated) and other celebrations of Chinese culture. Here's a clip from ChinaNews showcasing the festivities at Concordia. You'll find Madeline at 0:39 and Hope at 1:55. Look close...it's a blur for both...but how funny that they made the news in China!!!! (You can click the link or copy/paste it into your browser if that doesnt work.)
Happy New Year to All!
恭喜发财
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