It is a New Year...

There is simply too little time and too much to do. Time flies by especially fast during Chinese New Year. The 15 days of festivity is greeted with four-character wishes, homes being being dressed with red and prepared to greet part of the family. It is the most celebrated holiday in any Chinese family.

Throughout the festivity I would say the most memorable are the countless family dinners where the food never stops coming to the table. Every year, the gatherings around the table for a dozen are squishier. It is perhaps most interesting when you see the family grow from sitting at one to two. On the note of eating, homemade turnip cakes, leen go (年糕), kok zai (角仔) are simply wonders that I always look forward to. 

Fai Chun (揮春)

To children the most eventful part of the New Year is receiving their lai see (利是). The red packets adorned with gold and letters are then safely tucked away as it becomes the most precious thing above all. Prior to receiving anything, a series of four-character wishes must be said. Although through years of practice of saying my share, whenever I encounter relatives I still struggle even though the words are on the tip of my tongue. When I do think of something, I simply end up wishing them good health sun tai geen hong (身体健康) or along the same lines long ma jing san (龍馬精神). 

Red lanterns hung across a street near Pingxi Station

It's all red, red and more red. The sky is simply filled with red along with some assorted colours. This Chinese New Year, I had a different approach to the usual routine. I took a trip with my family to Taiwan. Walking through a few villages along the Pingsi Line (平溪線) red lanterns were hung in endless strings and sky lanterns were being set out as well. The metre tall lanterns floated with wishes and prospects for the New Year. Bustling through the streets were villagers hopping off the train with food and other gifts to bring back to their families. Never a moment of silence, in the day firecrackers were set off and in the night fireworks filled the sky. The day on-shore ended with squeezing through busy streets in the Keelung City (基隆市) night market to eat local foods.

- Happy Chinese New Year - 新年快樂!