Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I guess I can give you all a little background on the new year. The Chinese New Year is set in sync with the lunar calendar which gives it a different time frame and year. I'm not too sure exactly what that means, I went to this lecture on it but it was all in Chinese, so I am just regurgitating what I heard and what I could understand. Anyways, as most of you know there are 12 Chinese zodiac symbols and they each represent some aspect of human nature. This year is the year of the Ox. Which in Chinese means prosperity and success through means of hard work. Well, with grad school applications, scholarships, job applications, and various other things...this is enormously reassuring.

Anyways, what was really amazing were the fireworks and the festivals. Beijing lifts the ban on fireworks in the city for New Year. Fireworks here are believed to ward off evil spirits. This is absolutely incredible. I did some research and in Beijing proper there are 12million people, in the entire municipality there are 18million. So, in the span of 48 hours from New Years Eve to the end of the first day of the New Year, there are non-stop fireworks. It is absolutely incredible. Furthermore, imagine other places like Hong Kong, Shanghai..etc. This is just so enormous that I don't think I'm doing it justice. This is definitely something that I will never forget.
Most of the students went to the bridge near our school to watch the fireworks and celebrate the New Year. Here are some of the pictures.

All of the parks and the shrines also have festivals going on. Chinese New Year is also a time for prayer and for honoring one's ancestors. These pictures were taken at Di Tan Park which is a temple to the Earth and they have elaborate rituals and prayer services that start the first day of the New Year.
Chinese lanterns are everywhere and I love it. Red is a lucky color here.
This was one of the coolest dance shows that I have seen. I'm not too sure what its purpose was (you kind of get used to the Chinese mindset where EVERYTHING has a purpose and some significance).
Standing in front of Di Tan Park.
We also went to this amazing antique market in Beijing. It's the largest in Beijing and was amazing. I know where everyone's souvenirs are coming from!
Traditional Chinese vases.

There was also a wedding! This was incredibly exciting to watch the wedding party parade through the market in traditional wedding attire.
Today, I am going to explore some more parks. This is the first day of the New Year and everyone goes to pray at these many shrines. I am really excited to see these types of rituals and maybe even join in one! Hey, when in Rome do as the Romans do. Besides, being here and watching how Chinese people celebrate is amazing and an experience I will never forget. I wish I could describe it to you accurately and you all could have been here experiencing it with me.

I could wax philosophically on what it means to have the chance to, essentially, begin the New Year again, but I'll save that for later. I'm sure most of you know what this means to me anyways. I've only been here 3 weeks so far. It feels so much longer and so much has already happened. I still have a massive amount of homework to begin working on. I'll save that for tomorrow, though.

新年快乐！

-Aaron