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Chinese New Year (ChunJie) 2009
The Chinese New Year is a fun time to be in China.
This is when most businesses close, schools close, and families reunite for
the 15 day holiday. The holiday begins as people buy food and return
to their family hometowns. The stroke of midnight on the new year is
greeted with an unimaginable barrage of fireworks from every street corner
in town. The noise is deafening, but the sights are beautiful.
We enjoy spending time visiting the local parks along
with millions of others relaxing during the holiday. Nobody's in a
hurry. Everyone's having fun.
Five days after the new year arrived, the sun came out, and so did the people. The park was very crowded. The park was filled with displays set up especially for the new year. Finger foods of many varieties could be found at the park's impromptu food court. Rice in bamboo and rice in pineapples. Anna had fun along with other kids in these huge hamster balls where she could run on the water. This park has an aviary with birds of many kinds, some of which are endangered. For just a few cents kids can use baby bottles to feed large goldfish. (Josanne's highlight!) Yes, that's blue sky. On rare occasions in the winter the sky clears and the sun really shines bright. Several of these candy stands were set up where the vendor uses melted sugar to make 12 varieties of designs on a stick. It's edible art. The park sets up hundreds of tables and chairs just for the holiday so people can stop and relax for the day. Some picnic, others play cards, checkers, or majiang. Anna negotiates for some sugar cane. This is a traditional treat, though a little chewy. A few days before the holiday thousands of fireworks stands like this one are set up all around the city. Here you can buy anything from sparklers to professional grade mortars in a box.
Five days after the new year arrived, the sun came out, and so did the people. The park was very crowded.
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This site was last updated
02/01/09
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