Welcome to 2009 from the YDKC Team!
The holidays here in China are very much what you make of them except for the Chinese new year. It's fun how my wife thinks of the coming New Year celebration ahead of time but other holidays may come as they are. The New Year however has started in shops and advertisements, just as Christmas starts two weeks or a month ahead in the west.
Our regular supermarket is now chock full of red banners. I'll take a picture next time I'm there, but there are hundreds. You don't need to speak a lick of Chinese to know it's going to be the year of the bull next.
Christmas, as I hinted, isn't a mainland holiday. Shops play Christmas songs and you see some decorations but that's all. In Hong Kong (and I hope Pekka elaborates) you see 10-story tall light advertisements and Christmas designs on building walls. Much like everything else, HK Christmas is about shopping.
The western new year gives a one day holiday to most workers but there's no major celebration. And even though fireworks are so popular and available around the year, nobody plays with them for the western new year. Saving up for the Chinese New Year I suppose. Actually, saving up for the New Year is very much a topic.
I've heard that small crime is on the rise a month before the holidays. Like legitimate workers, thieves will try to get some extra money to spend the holidays with. Even our neighbourhood as additional security measures in place. Nothing obtrusive but they make an effort.
But all in all, I've enjoyed my break.
Welcome back everyone!
Oh, a mention to my friend Eero. He's in China getting a nice Chinese marriage with all the hassle and (strange) wonderful ceremonies included. Congratulations.
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Thx for the mention. :D Happy new year!
ReplyDelete-E-
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to learn one Chinese New Year song, I've found this one on youtube, is it very popular?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMAMcnGnmsw
Sincerly,
Marc
Funny is what it is. You know how some foreigners claim to be tone deaf or they can't learn to distinguish between words? I sometimes amuse myself by playing the same trick as this song. If I get an opportunity to ask someone to borrow me a pen I say "bi" instead of "bi".
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese never catch on as they judge from the context I want a pen an not the other "bi" the song is about.
What's your problem with the Bi?
ReplyDeleteDo you mean bi or bi?
ReplyDeleteNeither bi nor bi, I mean Bi.
ReplyDeleteAh, I've got nothing against Bi.
ReplyDelete