Tuesday 24 January 2012

Xin nian kuai le ...

Fireworks from my 26th floor apartment in Wuxi

As I'm sure you're all aware, Monday was Chinese New Year.  The day, and all the celebrations that come with it, reminds me of my time in China just before the celebrations started.  When I lived in China, all the expat advice was to leave the country in order to escape the madness that accompanied the biggest Chinese celebration of the year.  You may remember that I took a ski trip to Japan during those holidays.  But, I do remember the lead up to the celebrations - shops were over-crowded as everyone stocked up on fruit, fireworks and gifts for families and there was an even greater sense of chaos in the air.  I'm told that the fireworks during Chinese New Year are simply insane and I can imagine just how irritating that would become, particularly given that huge firework displays 2 or 3 times a week was normal when it wasn't the Chinese New Year!  Anyway, to anyone celebrating the Chinese New Year, xin nian kuai le, and welcome to the year of the dragon!



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