Saturday, February 09, 2013

Chinese New Year -- In China

Chinese New Year is a huge deal in China.  It is now known as the biggest migration of people in the world, as approximately 3.4 billion trips on road, rails and air take place in the weeks before and after the Chinese New Year, which is TONIGHT.  Right now, as I type, it sounds like a war zone outside my window.  It's a constant rumble of explosions, whistles, firecrackers and the colored lights of fireworks.  This has been going on for hours.  Many Chinese clear out of the country, headed for warmer temperatures and I had the option to do so myself. However, I wanted to experience once Chinese New Year...IN CHINA.  And it hasn't disappointed.  I spent the evening with new friends and then bundled up and watched the fireworks from the street. 


A fireworks stand...nothing seems out of the ordinary!

Up close, this looks, well, not what we would find in the United States.

Around 10PM, this is the quality and size of the fireworks.

Yeah, seriously.  Where do those awesome fireworks displays from the US come during 4th of July?  China!



The aftermath

It's an amazing thing that more people aren't hurt.  For an hour, the city simply stood still and fireworks were everywhere.  360 degrees!  No wonder this is all illegal in the US.