Happy Spring Festival
Well…..Chinese New Year is here once again. I want to wish you all the best in the year of the pig. This year it was very difficult for me to decide weather I wanted to spend Spring Festival here in China or not. There are a lot of things that I enjoy about spending Chinese New Year in China, and MANY things I dislike. This year the cons have really started to outweigh the pros and I am seriously considering heading home next year. The biggest cons for me are:
- Fireworks that go till the wee hours of the night, and then start again before the sun has risen. There is no way to get a decent amount of sleep when people light fireworks like this. People really have no respect for the sleeping habits of others. Classic mentality here: “It is 5am. I want to light fireworks. OK…good call. Let me walk out in front of the multi story apartment building where everyone is sleeping and set a few off.”
- Fireworks that have no purpose. The most basic firework out here is your long string of firecrackers. This long string of firecrackers also happens to be the most frequently used type of firework, which leaves me a bit confused. You see, these fireworks are not very attractive to look at. All they do is make a TON of noise and disturb everyone who happens to be close by. The people who light these fireworks also don’t really seem to care, as the frequent habit seems to be to light a string, walk far away, and then not pay attention at all. My question then is why spend the money to buy these fireworks!?!?!? Why light them off and disturb everyone around you!?!?!? You may as well just burn your money and blare an air horn at everyone in the surrounding area!!!
- Stupid television specials that EVERYONE watches and then complains about. OK. The Spring Festival Galas shown on Chinese T.V. are TERRIBLE. It seems that this is common knowledge out here. Every one sits through them year after year board as can be, yet comes back the next year for another dosage. I just don’t get it.
- Everyone uses the holiday as an excuse not to work. Your visa expired….no luck. You need to handle something at the bank….sorry buddy. You need a bottle of water…..no dice. Why is it EVERY business stops. I would understand if a good chunk closed up shop for a few days, but having every company close the doors for at least 8-10 days in NUTS!
- Transportation is so overbooked that you may as well give up before even thinking about traveling. EVERYONE in China seems to head back to their family home in another city. Train tickets get sold out weeks in advance. Highways become a trafficy mess. Plane tickets are overpriced and also sold out. It is basically impossible to get anywhere unless you are willing to pay through the nose and suffer through an uncomfortably overbooked mess.
John at Sinosplice created a similar post about why he hates Chinese new year, and I think it is right on the money. A good read if you have the time:
10 Reasons I Hate Chinese New Year
Anyway….sorry to put a negative spin on this as I try to wish everyone a happy new year. I wound up spending New Year’s Eve with Leo and his family. We ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, 浴园广场, and then lit fireworks at both Leo’s school and at 康丽. I always enjoy how chaotic 12 midnight is, and this year was no exception. It seemed like the city had become a total warzone as everyone was lighting fireworks at the same time. No matter what direction you looked, there were multi-colored explosions that filled the sky. Truly a uniquely Chinese situation 
To wrap this up…..HAPPY YEAR OF THE PIG TO ALL
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Great description, Andy.
You didn’t say what the pro’s were.
keep the blogs coming,
Mom
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:30 am
Sounds like a hassle…but I still plan to see it at LEAST once in my life
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:41 am
AJ- Hope you can get some sleep now. I loved the part about you might be coming home next year!! Anyway, thanks for starting to blog again. It’s good to have you back.
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:01 am
You were my treat for today Andrew, just finding you on my computer. It almost doesn’t matter what you speak about (that is, whether positive or negative) because the joy comes in just reading whatever you are writing. To echo your dad, it’s VERY good tohave you back. Much love.
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
ANDY!!!!!!!!
Where have you been? So glad that you are at least communicating a little again. Hope your time in China is still enjoyable and hope that you have a better time next week! With love and aloha,
Summer
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 am
Andrew I am going coming to China for next New Years. I come alive in explosions.
Kung Hi Fot Choi! I think?
Aloha Gary
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Sara…..FIREWORKS! Tons of them
Justin…..you need to see it at least once
Dad……no sleep yet….I got another free 5am wakeup call today
Grammy……thanks for the kind words
Cousin Summer……With the earthquake in Taiwan that led to a lack of Internet, I kinda dropped of the face of the planet for a while. I guess you could call me an addict
Uncle Gary……Glad you are coming……I have no idea what that means. Is it Mandarin or Cantonese?
February 23rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Al fin te dejas escuchar de nuevo! Bienvenido y es bueno tener noticias tuyas. Yo no creo que me gustaria ir a China cuando celebran el nueno ano porque los fireworks me recuerdan mucho de la guerra en la que estuve y me trae malos recuerdos. De todas formas sigues escribiendo muy bien y ojala puedas venir a visitarnos el ano entrante. Felicidades muchacho!!
February 24th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I am so happy to hear from you. Wonder if you are coming for Summers wedding on
07/07/07. Gary is planning to set off fireworks On July 4th, Sara is sponsoring the July 4th bar b que at Ma’ili Cove. Im sure you wont want to miss some more fireworks.
Just kidding. Summers wedding week begins July 3 and ends with breakfast July 8th.
Is it in the stars for you to come????
with love aunty Terry
February 25th, 2007 at 10:02 am
haha, i was in shanghai for chinese new year too – ate SO much food, it was ridiculous. but at least they had real fireworks – the kind that blows up in the sky and has colors. the bad thing about those? well, i was on the 9th floor of a hotel, and guess at what height do those things explode?
as for the tv special 春晚..there were actually some good skits. but i have to say, the songs…are horrible. especially the one that went, “a thousand flowers / ten thousand flowers / not nearly as beautiful as the flower of socialism”…
anyway, hope all is well – i was expecting you to mention shenqi at some point…
- bernard
March 4th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Hey there Andy – this is your classmate for one month!!
I am coming back to China this week and was thinking about coming through SJZ before I head to Qingdao.
I dont have your email, please send it to me if you get a chance. Thx.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:36 am
El Viejo…..yo tambian creo que no te gustaria
Terry…..I don’t think it is going to be in the cards
But you will have my blessings from afar. Be sure to take tons of pictures to send to me
Bernard…..glad you had fun down in Shanghai. Shenqi was in Beijing, but managed to call me at midnight
Adam….I think I missed you…..Have fun in Qingdao