Happy (Chinese) New Year
Or, as they say here, Xin Nian Kuai Le! (pronounced Shin Knee-Ann Ka-why Le... which, surprise surprise, means Happy New Year.)
The holiday, which is actually called Spring Festival by most of the locals, is a time for families to reunite, children to get little red envelopes full of cash called Hong Bao, and everyone and their mothers to set off unbelievably loud fireworks in the hope of scaring off evil spirits for the new year.
In addition to the general annoyance of not being able to sleep during this period, there is also shockingly little attention paid to the safe and reasonable use of literally hundreds of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, black powder and dynamite by the general public... to clarify, we had a 27 year old male show up in our Emergency Department yesterday with a "through-and-through" puncture wound in his left calf, caused by, and I quote, "setting rockets off on their side." Stunningly intelligent move. Oh, and we're not talking bottle rockets out of coke bottles here... when the Chinese say rockets, they're referring to small missiles with 3 foot fuses.
Fortunately, I'll be evacuating the city to protect myself from the mayhem and enjoying the sights and sounds of Tokyo and Kyoto for the next week. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!
Oh, and my pictures are finally updated!! Check out http://sterny.smugmug.com to see pictures from my mom and dad's visit in December, our trips to Thailand and Cambodia, my trip to the great wall and Beijing and most recently my excursion north to see the famous Harbin Snow and Ice Festival.
The holiday, which is actually called Spring Festival by most of the locals, is a time for families to reunite, children to get little red envelopes full of cash called Hong Bao, and everyone and their mothers to set off unbelievably loud fireworks in the hope of scaring off evil spirits for the new year.
In addition to the general annoyance of not being able to sleep during this period, there is also shockingly little attention paid to the safe and reasonable use of literally hundreds of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, black powder and dynamite by the general public... to clarify, we had a 27 year old male show up in our Emergency Department yesterday with a "through-and-through" puncture wound in his left calf, caused by, and I quote, "setting rockets off on their side." Stunningly intelligent move. Oh, and we're not talking bottle rockets out of coke bottles here... when the Chinese say rockets, they're referring to small missiles with 3 foot fuses.
Fortunately, I'll be evacuating the city to protect myself from the mayhem and enjoying the sights and sounds of Tokyo and Kyoto for the next week. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!
Oh, and my pictures are finally updated!! Check out http://sterny.smugmug.com to see pictures from my mom and dad's visit in December, our trips to Thailand and Cambodia, my trip to the great wall and Beijing and most recently my excursion north to see the famous Harbin Snow and Ice Festival.
posted by Mr. Frisky | 2:51 PM
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