Year of the Ox

Well, the Chinese have ushered in a new lunar year, the year of the ox, in typical loud, obnoxious fashion. After our first New Year experience in Shanghai when we were homebound due to pregnancy, we swore we would never again stay in China during the new year celebrations. Last year we spent a blissful holiday basking in the sun in Thailand with our good friends, the Faulkners. This year, unfortunately, found us once again at home in Shanghai. Due to the late return from our Christmas trip to the States (January 15), we found ourselves not exactly excited to hop back on a plane one week later for the new year. "We can take it," we thought to ourselves. I should have remembered our original promise. . .

To those of you who don't know, the Chinese New Year is perhaps the most important holiday in the calendar - similar to how most Christians regard Christmas back home. It's the ONE time a year where many migrants or city transplants travel back home to see their families. The New Year is not simply one day on the calendar, as one might imagine. It is a long celebration called the Spring Festival, starting on the New Lunar Year and usually ending with the Chinese Lantern Festival approximately fifteen days later. For the Chinese, they laugh, take a much needed break from work, catch up with families, etc. It's actually a wonderful time of the year for the Chinese with many ritual traditions handed down generations. What we westerners in the city most notice, however, are the fireworks.

Coming from the States, I had always equated fireworks with the once yearly display on the 4th of July. Yes, occasionally people set them off on their own, but with the increasing bans in selling fireworks in many states, this happens more and more infrequently. Of course, you have the late night ballpark fireworks, Cedar Point, Disney, etc., but for the most part, you see fireworks one night a year. Not the Chinese. . . Fireworks here are a specialty. Since this is the culture/country that actually did invent fireworks, I must give them their due. However, fireworks are so commonplace here (and when I say fireworks, I usually refer to the loud, obnoxious, supercharged firecracker type and not the pretty "flower in the sky" type) you can pretty much count on hearing them several times a month, if not more. Open a new store - set off some fireworks. . . Get married - set off some fireworks. . . Feeling a little bored - you get the idea. . . . It gets a little annoying. Not to mention the fact that these fireworks are lit right on the sidewalk and street so that if you happen to be passing by at the time, you had better look out. Life doesn't stop for pedestrian (or any type of) traffic here.

The Chinese New Year is an entirely different fireworks experience. Not only does every family (I kid you not) light off fireworks, they all have their own traditional night/time to do it(imagine 18 million people in the city of Shanghai). So, while one might imagine fireworks going off as we usher in the new year, in actuality, the fireworks tend to be nonstop from just before midnight of the lunar new year to late the next morning or afternoon. So much for sleeping. But, even if this were just for one night, I probably wouldn't mind so much - let them have their customs if I can sleep the next night. But no, the fireworks continue every night through the spring festival, which if you remember, lasts 15 days. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep this holiday.

However, today is February 16, and the new year fireworks are quickly becoming a distant memory. Thankfully, I can once again swear never to be in China during this holiday as we are five months away from moving back to the US. So, next year send your fireworks to the sky, China. I'll be back home blissfully at peace.