Happy New Year, Chinese style

Wahoo, it's the Year of the Dog!

Well, I hadn't originally planned on spending the Chinese new year in China. We had been warned about the craziness of in-country travel during the holiday, China's most important. But, due to circumstance and economics, turns out I got to witness China's new year celebration up-close and personal.

I spent the holiday, Saturday the 28th, in Chongqing at Todd's place. His apartment is on the ninth floor of a high-rise facing out over an older and as-yet undeveloped neighborhood. In China, this means that no buildings are taller than four or five stories, and the narrow streets are a maze-like warren. He really lives at the confluence of old and new China. Soon, I imagine, the old brick buildings will be knocked down to make way for more high-rise complexes as development marches, or rather races, on.

Anyway, from his ninth floor balcony we were treated to quite the show. It was spectacular, if sometimes harrowing, to witness. For several years previous there has been a ban on fireworks in Chongqing. This year that ban was lifted and so the locals made up for lost time and more. It seemed that every household at home had their own stash of fireworks, large and small, to light off. Keep in mind that this is a very densely populated area with little to no open space. Undeterred by this, residents would use their rooftops as launchpads, or lean out their windows and shoot things off their balconies. The first time I saw a man holding a mortar launcher outstretched from his window, I simultaneously laughed and ducked for cover. Starting at 11:15 pm, and continuing til after midnight on the first day of the new lunar year, the fireworks went off. We watched most of them, from the very (too) close to those far in the distance. Eventually the accumulated smoke from the tons of exploded fireworks drove us inside with burning throats and ringing ears. I'd never before been 20 feet from bursting fireworks, and I'm not sure when I will again. Unplanned though it was, I'm glad I got to see how the new year is done, Chinese style. The exuberance of the locals as they reveled in their cherished holiday was awesome to see. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

This photo doesn't really do justice to the event, but it's the best I've got in a still. The video I took is very noisy, and I can be heard screaming at a firework that came just a little too close for comfort.