It may come as no surprise to any regular readers that I have no real love for China. I will spare you my complaints, but I think I could overcome many of my problems with the culture if I saw many positive cultural traits rise out of the country. Not to say that its a land of awful people, as a culture. Not so. Just that most things classically Chinese have been pushed aside to make room for things modern, new and Western.
But Chinese New Year is full of tradition. Folks from all over the country catch planes, trains and busses to travel for hours in standing-room-only vehicles so they can spend this holiday in their hometown. People make the same foods, they observe many of the same rituals, and Chinese people all over the country go just as crazy with fireworks as they did one-hundred years ago!
The girls' school will celebrate China Week this week, the week before the Spring Festival break from school. They kicked off China Week this evening with a Chinese New Year party on the sports field. We played games, collected cards with animals from the zodiac, ate sugar formed into dragons, sampled loads of our favorite street food, and enjoyed a spectacular show from front row seats.
I love that the school did this - kudos to all of the Chinese teachers who worked together to put it on. I hear the entire week will be such fun! And I must admit - I love being in China on Chinese New Year!
A few snaps from the show:
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