Happy New Year! It's the Year of the Tiger, don'tcha know...so we'd like to also wish everyone "Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái" which means "may you be prosperous." New Year's Day also coincided with Valentine's Day, so we decided to spend the weekend down in the city. New Year's is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the 4th of July all rolled into one! At the same time, no one really wants to miss an opportunity to make a buck (or a kuai) so most businesses do stay open, giving us a chance to slurp up a Blizzard from Dairy Queen as well as more delicious Chinese food. We caught some terrifically dangerous fireworks, too!
Of course, one of of the nicest things about Chinese New Year is a week off of work! The Hillmans barely survived last week--all but Ava were at death's door with a really nasty cough, cold, and fever. Thank goodness we're healed up enough to enjoy some time off!
First, there was awesome swimming! The pool was underground and dark--with lots of secret places, waterfalls, fountains, and FUN! Definitely one of the best pools we've ever been to.
Then, FOOD! Jiao zi (dumplings) are traditional, but the Golden Tripod serves up fantastic bowls of noodles and these terrific Cantonese shrimp dim sum thingies...which no one but me likes (hooray)!
Then there's the fireworks. The clips don't begin to describe the noise level...the firecrackers made my ears ring for several hours. The other clip gives an indea of the nonstop booming that goes on from about 10:00 until 1:00 am. And it's not only New Year's Eve--it's the days before and after as well! And safety? Forget about it. How about guys waving 7-8 feet of firecrackers over their heads while they're exploding? Or setting off fireworks in narrow alleys between buildings? Or in the middle of the street while cars are driving by?
More to come!
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