When we last left you, dear readers, the fireworks were rattling the windows of Shanghai as the residents of Shanghai began blowing...well, everything up.
Chinese New Year is actually a fifteen-day holiday, but the core of the celebration is New Year's Eve and the following four days leading up the return of the God of Wealth. But before we proceed, please view the instructional video on handling explosives safely.
The Rundown on Chinese New Year from Wikipedia (edited):
Back to our regularly scheduled missive:
You may remember from last week's column that the intrepid YRC staff were sternly warned to abandon the city during Chinese New Year. So, counter to that sage advice, we decided to stay and experience The Big One, the Year of the Dragon. The bombardment on New Year's Eve started around 4:00 pm and ran until around 1:00 am, and it was rather intense as the video demonstrates. Yada yada.
We were prepared for the holiday. We carried no knives or matches and were planning on cooking no food. We would kill no animals and would not clean the apartment. It was sounding like a fun holiday, really. But then, in the heart of the Big 'Hai, we encountered one of Life's Great Mysteries. As we left the apartment on the morning of New Year's Day, we were startled to find something we had not prepared for.
Shanghai streets, like most mainland cities, are extremely crowded and ...noisy. Chinese drivers have their horn connected to their gas pedal. When the driver's foot is removed from the gas pedal, the horn starts to honk. To add to the cacophony on the street, there are the loud cell phone conversations, the migrant junk collectors with their speakerphones doing the Mandarin version of "Bring Out Your Dead", the street vendors enthusiastically communicating the availability of tasty and inexpensive snack foods, the incessant construction noise, usually lead by jackhammers, and the constant buzz and whine of the thousands of scooters competing with pedestrians for a pathway through the chaos.
But on this New Year's morning, we emerged blinking into the day to find...nothing. A great tsunami of tranquility rolled over us. Our Shanghai friends and neighbors were all gone! No bus travelers, no buses, no vendors, no crazy Chinese cat ladies, no..body.
And, then, it struck us...Chunyun. No, not the God of Empty streets. Chunyun, the time of travel.
Bwwwwwwwwuuuuuuhhhhhhahahahahhahahaha! Our fellow Shanghaiese were not in Shanghai. They were all on a train to the provinces, going home to play mahjong and snack on niangao,( 年糕, niángāo).
The YRC staff has planned for the travel challenge of a lifetime. Instead, lot's of personal space and harmony. To illustrate, imagine a great city, like....Paris. What is the one thing that would make a visit to Paris truly wonderful? No Parisians, of course! Or, imagine London without the Brits or New York without the Yankees! Now, what if....even the tourists were gone?! In Shanghai, the expats had fled the city, well ahead of the madness of Chunyun. Most of the Chinese also had left, going home to the provinces, leaving....the YRC staff to wander the city in search of wisdom or, even a bar that might be open.
The city was ours! The Year of the Dragon brought the one thing impossible to find in Shanghai...serenity. And we hope your Lunar Year will be serene as we wrap up this week's column. Next week the YRC visits the wilds of Kunming and the famous Siberian gull migration! Thanks again for stopping by.
Chinese New Year is actually a fifteen-day holiday, but the core of the celebration is New Year's Eve and the following four days leading up the return of the God of Wealth. But before we proceed, please view the instructional video on handling explosives safely.
The Rundown on Chinese New Year from Wikipedia (edited):
First day
The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the days before. On this day, it is considered bad luck to clean.
Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time to honor one's elders and families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended families, usually their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
For Buddhists, the first day is also the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva (better known as the more familiar Budai Luohan), the Buddha-to-be. People also abstain from killing animals.
Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Chinese New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red envelopes containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers. Business managers also give bonuses through red envelopes to employees for good luck and wealth.
[edit]Second day
The second day of the Chinese New Year, known as kāinián (开年, "beginning of the year")[16], was when married daughters visited their birth parents, relatives and close friends. (Traditionally, married daughters didn't have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently.)
During the days of imperial China, "beggars and other unemployed people circulate[d] from family to family, carrying a picture [of the God of Wealth] shouting, "Cai Shen dao!" [The God of Wealth has come!]."[17] Householders would respond with "lucky money" to reward the messengers.
Some believe that the second day is also the birthday of all dogs and remember them with special treats.
[edit]Third day
The third day is known as Chìkǒu (赤口), directly translated as "red mouth". Chìkǒu is also called Chìgǒurì (赤狗日). Chìgǒu means "the God of Blazing Wrath" (熛怒之神). It is generally accepted that it is not a good day to socialize or visit your relatives and friends.[18][19]. Hakka villagers in rural Hong Kong in the 1960s called it the Day of the Poor Devil and believed everyone should stay at home.[20] This is also considered a propitious day to visit the temple of the God of Wealth and have one's future told.
[edit]Fourth day
In those communities that celebrate Chinese New Year for only two or three days, the fourth day is when corporate "spring dinners" kick off and business returns to normal.
[edit]Fifth day
This day is the God of Wealth's birthday. In northern Mainland China, people eat jiǎozi (simplified Chinese: 饺子; traditional Chinese: 餃子), or dumplings on the morning of Pòwǔ (破五). In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on the next day (the sixth day), accompanied by firecrackers.
It is also common in China that on the 5th day people will shoot off firecrackers in the attempt to get Guan Yu's attention, thus ensuring his favor and good fortune for the new year.
Back to our regularly scheduled missive:
You may remember from last week's column that the intrepid YRC staff were sternly warned to abandon the city during Chinese New Year. So, counter to that sage advice, we decided to stay and experience The Big One, the Year of the Dragon. The bombardment on New Year's Eve started around 4:00 pm and ran until around 1:00 am, and it was rather intense as the video demonstrates. Yada yada.
We were prepared for the holiday. We carried no knives or matches and were planning on cooking no food. We would kill no animals and would not clean the apartment. It was sounding like a fun holiday, really. But then, in the heart of the Big 'Hai, we encountered one of Life's Great Mysteries. As we left the apartment on the morning of New Year's Day, we were startled to find something we had not prepared for.
But on this New Year's morning, we emerged blinking into the day to find...nothing. A great tsunami of tranquility rolled over us. Our Shanghai friends and neighbors were all gone! No bus travelers, no buses, no vendors, no crazy Chinese cat ladies, no..body.
And, then, it struck us...Chunyun. No, not the God of Empty streets. Chunyun, the time of travel.
This from Shanghai Expat:
 |
| Train Station, Shanghai. Photo courtesy of Shanghai Expat |
China’s population is the largest in the world, estimated at 1.4 billion people, and the ramifications of this number constantly ripple through every part of daily life. There are always lines at every turn, transportation is crowded, and of course, there is limited personal space. Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, falls on January 23rd this year, and is a time when many Chinese return to their hometowns to be with their families and friends. During this time an impossibly large amount of people board planes, trains, busses, and boats in what is known as Chun Yun. Chun Yun is often referred to as, “the largest annual human migration in the world.” It is estimated that some 700 million Chinese people will travel making an estimated 3.1 billion trips over the 40 day travel period. Trains are running around the clock and still overcrowded.
Bwwwwwwwwuuuuuuhhhhhhahahahahhahahaha! Our fellow Shanghaiese were not in Shanghai. They were all on a train to the provinces, going home to play mahjong and snack on niangao,( 年糕, niángāo).
The YRC staff has planned for the travel challenge of a lifetime. Instead, lot's of personal space and harmony. To illustrate, imagine a great city, like....Paris. What is the one thing that would make a visit to Paris truly wonderful? No Parisians, of course! Or, imagine London without the Brits or New York without the Yankees! Now, what if....even the tourists were gone?! In Shanghai, the expats had fled the city, well ahead of the madness of Chunyun. Most of the Chinese also had left, going home to the provinces, leaving....the YRC staff to wander the city in search of wisdom or, even a bar that might be open.
The city was ours! The Year of the Dragon brought the one thing impossible to find in Shanghai...serenity. And we hope your Lunar Year will be serene as we wrap up this week's column. Next week the YRC visits the wilds of Kunming and the famous Siberian gull migration! Thanks again for stopping by.
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