Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China. It is like having our Thanksgiving, Christmas, and 4th of July all rolled into one holiday. .
The Chinese typically take one week off of work, so they can spend quality time with their immediate and extended family. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, they have a special reunion dinner at home. The dinner consists of many traditional Chinese cuisines, and each dish represents good fortune for the upcoming New Year. The children receive “hong bao” (red envelops filled with money) from adults to wish them good fortune and prosperity. Finally, each family lights fireworks. The entire sky is filled with fireworks all day and night!
For our Chinese New Year week celebration, we did many things. First, we attended a party hosted by our apartment complex. Then on Chinese New Year day, we watched a lion dance ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Finally on the last day, we ate dinner at a local Chinese restaurant called 1221 with our friends, Martin and Marsha. There we had our own Chinese feast with dumplings, noodles, and Mandarin fish (a local Shanghainese specialty). During the entire week, we got to enjoy fireworks. The Chinese are very serious about their fireworks. They like to light them up whenever and wherever, like at 4:00am from the middle of the street! Also these are not the little fireworks that we have at home. They are the big ones that shoot up into the air and light up the sky, similar to Disneyland’s professional fireworks. On New Year’s Eve, there were literally 40 different sets of fireworks going off at once - all within site from our building! It was truly a unique experience to watch.
Not sure who this guy is supposed to be during the lion dance
Lion dance at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. There are usually two lions-red and yellow.
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