The Chinese Lunar New Year is upon us and Beijing has been busy preparing for the Year of the Ox which will begin at 12 midnight Sunday night January 26 (really, Monday morning, right?). People have been leaving town by the droves – the train stations were swamped with travelers and those attempting to buy tickets, the airport expressway has seen a steady stream of traffic, and highways are checkered with cars going and coming. Those in town on Friday and Saturday were thronging to the markets to finish buying 年货(nian2 hua4), or Chinese New Year’s purchases, those must-haves which denote the holiday. These must-haves include decorations like paper-cuts, auspicious doorway couplets (对联, dui4 lian2), lanterns (because the Lantern Festival 15 days later marks the end of the new year's celebration), and various other hanging motifs which are always red, red, RED. (photo: Shopping for New Year decorations at Dongjiao Wholesale Market)Also on the shopping list are new clothes, again to welcome a new year and new life, one hopefully filled with success and plenty. Check out the hot item of New Year's underwear, in the requisite RED, of course!
Photo: Need some RED underwear? New Year underwear is a HOT seller!
Fireworks and firecrackers are part of the tradition of scaring away the evil spirits with noise, and fireworks stands spring up at the side of roads and sell everything from 800Y a box of large fireworks to a few kuai for little things. (Though when I asked for something safe and easy, I was met with a perplexed look and a "Hey, it's all easy. Just light and throw!") Things are NOT safety regulated here, folks, so I chickened out and didn't buy. Photo: Roadside fireworks stand in ShunyiCopious amounts of food must be purchased for the family and friends who will be coming and going all week, but for the midnight family reunion meal (年夜饭, nian2 ye4 fan4) marking the beginning of the New Year tonight, one absolutely MUST have dumplings (饺子, jiao3 zi), fish (鱼, yu3) and niangao (年糕, nian2 gao1). 
(selecting a live fish for later New Year's consumption)
Oranges and fish are two traditional items because they each are homophones for auspicious words. One catch phrase for New Year’s is “May there be plenty year after year” 年年有余(nian2 nian2 you3 yu3), and the words “plenty” and “fish” are homophones. The words “orange” (the fruit) and “gold” are homophones in Cantonese. Fresh flowers and trees are another “freshness” associated with the new year, symbolizing new life and offspring, and the days leading up to Chinese New Year’s are the busiest of the year for florists besides Valentine’s Day on February 14th.
Now, there is a breathless quiet descending upon the city, just like the midnight hours of Christmas eve or election day after the polls close but before the results are in. People are waiting. They are together with friends or family, they are cooking, they are watching the numerous TV extravaganzas the major networks put on, and they are waiting. At midnight, China will erupt into a paeon of sound and color as tons of gunpowder are ignited in fireworks and firecrackers of ALL shapes and sizes around the country.
It is late Sunday afternoon as I write this, just before sunset, and we are caught in the
expectancy of the moment. Having spent an afternoon with friends celebrating a birthday and ice sledding (see my Hou Hai Winter Fun to figure out what ice sledding is) we are settling down to a quiet evening followed by a night of NOISE. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I leave you with the most popular SMS greeting of the year, but first you must understand that ox, or 牛, is pronounced “niu2” in Mandarin, or like "ny-ew" in English, with a dipthong after the N.
So, Happy Niu Year to you!!! 新年快乐!
Now, there is a breathless quiet descending upon the city, just like the midnight hours of Christmas eve or election day after the polls close but before the results are in. People are waiting. They are together with friends or family, they are cooking, they are watching the numerous TV extravaganzas the major networks put on, and they are waiting. At midnight, China will erupt into a paeon of sound and color as tons of gunpowder are ignited in fireworks and firecrackers of ALL shapes and sizes around the country.
It is late Sunday afternoon as I write this, just before sunset, and we are caught in the
expectancy of the moment. Having spent an afternoon with friends celebrating a birthday and ice sledding (see my Hou Hai Winter Fun to figure out what ice sledding is) we are settling down to a quiet evening followed by a night of NOISE. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I leave you with the most popular SMS greeting of the year, but first you must understand that ox, or 牛, is pronounced “niu2” in Mandarin, or like "ny-ew" in English, with a dipthong after the N.So, Happy Niu Year to you!!! 新年快乐!
(For more great explanations of the Chinese New Year holiday
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