Today is the first day of the Year of the Ox. To celebrate and bring in the New Year, last night we ate homemade dumplings made by my wife and then we went out and set off fireworks.
The dumplings have a special significance in Chinese tradition. The dumplings boiled in water signify a long lost good wish for the family. Also, some families will hide a coin in the dumpling and the family member that ends up eating this dumpling (hopefully not the coin), will have good luck throughout the whole year.
The fireworks also have special significance in the Chinese tradition. It is said that the exploding news from the firecrackers will scare and drive away evil spirits and stop them from coming into the New Year. As I write this entry, new spirits are still being driven away! When we think of fireworks in the US, we do not get very big fireworks. Those are reserved for the city. Here in China, you can purchase very big fireworks to enjoy the festive event. We purchased many small fireworks for this event and even these are much bigger than the fireworks allowed in the US.
Fireworks will be heard for the next fifteen days of the spring festival ending with the lantern festival. Maybe I will buy some larger fireworks for future days. The fireworks display around town was very beautiful with many lights and the sound of fireworks all around.
Basically from what I could tell, the main rule was to be at least 50m from the houses. This rule was not observed all the time. As you can see above some nice fireworks were done between the buildings. I think the rule calls for more common sense. Some people have it and other don't.
Happy New Year to all and may the Year of the Ox bring your family health, prosperity, and happiness! 新年快乐！
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