# Chinese New Year---Spring Festival



## Vince_UK (Feb 5, 2018)

This years Chinese New Years Eve is on February 15th and the start of the New Lunar Year is February 16th.
This year will be the Year of the Dog.
It is an event steeped in tradition with a very long history.
Rather than type a detailed outline with all of my usual typos, I am posting a link for anyone who is interested to gain a little insight as to what it entails and how it originated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
Starting this week, the largest global mass migration starts with Chinese people not only in China itself but also from all over the World making the annual pilgrimage home to be with their families.
It is the single most important event for any Chinese person throughout their entire lifetime and cannot be missed.
Shanghai will now, over the next week, become very quiet with a much reduced population as up to 50% of the residents, most of who are migrant workers from labourers to airline pilots at all levels, make the trip to their hometowns. My apartment complex will steadily become deserted and the noise of pull along suitcases will increase before then as people leave.
All trains, aircraft, buses, and cars indeed any mode of transport will be all fully booked and tickets now impossible to get.
It is not unusual for people to make train journeys of 23 hours perhaps even standing or sitting on portable stools just to get home in time. Train tickets are snapped up within seconds of going on sale and it is an annual struggle to get tickets for anything.
Factories will close for at least 1 week. Getting anything done will be almost impossible.
Some factory workers get 1 months vacation with an annual bonus paid before the start of the holiday.
People save up all year for this single event.
Spending levels will exceed anything experienced globally. 
I will try to post some photos if I see anything I feel may be of interest.
I will stay in Shanghai as usual and enjoy to relative peace and quiet for 10 days or so.
The best time to travel in China is definitely not any official Chinese holiday and in particular Spring Festival.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 5, 2018)

Very interesting .   Incidentally, my birth year is the year of the dog (even though I'm a 'cat' person)


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## mikeyB (Feb 5, 2018)

I’m a water dragon 

When I was at Uni, had a mate who was Chinese, and he took us to the local Chinese restaurant in St Andrews for a New Year feast. Had an absolutely great time, great not-usually-on-the-menu food. Memorable.


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## Stitch147 (Feb 5, 2018)

I love going to China town in London around the new year celebrations, its a great atmosphere. I was born in the year of the dragon.


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## Drummer (Feb 6, 2018)

We used to get Chinese take away delivered, and I was always careful to wish them all the best for the coming year. I think it was the Cantonese version - gung hey fat choi 'happiness and prosperity'. We used to get excellent service, and the manager often brought our order round. He was always delighted at my efforts of perfect my pronunciation, and I was sad that we did not get to say goodbye when he retired last year. The food is not so good now too.  
I will think about him on the day, and wish him well.
I was born in the year of the Xinmau - the rabbit, by the way.


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## Amigo (Feb 6, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> This years Chinese New Years Eve is on February 15th and the start of the New Lunar Year is February 16th.
> This year will be the Year of the Dog.
> It is an event steeped in tradition with a very long history.
> Rather than type a detailed outline with all of my usual typos, I am posting a link for anyone who is interested to gain a little insight as to what it entails and how it originated.
> ...



We were in Hong Kong and Taiwan one January and the preparations were starting then. I brought back some traditional decorations and those little red envelopes they give money gifts in. 
It’s interesting their tradition of thoroughly cleaning the house because it’s not unlike the Scottish Hogmanay rituals. My Scottish friend had to have the house cleaned and all the rubbish out before New Year’s Eve. Nothing could be left till New Year’s Day.

Will you be celebrating with them Vince or use it for some quiet time?


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## scousebird (Feb 6, 2018)

Always a big Chinese New Year in the Chinatown district in Liverpool.  The road signs in the area are in English & Chinese (hot sure which dialect).


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## Vince_UK (Feb 6, 2018)

Amigo said:


> We were in Hong Kong and Taiwan one January and the preparations were starting then. I brought back some traditional decorations and those little red envelopes they give money gifts in.
> It’s interesting their tradition of thoroughly cleaning the house because it’s not unlike the Scottish Hogmanay rituals. My Scottish friend had to have the house cleaned and all the rubbish out before New Year’s Eve. Nothing could be left till New Year’s Day.
> 
> Will you be celebrating with them Vince or use it for some quiet time?


I have been invited to a friends to have the traditional New Years Eve dinner with them @Amigo in Kunshan which I did last year also.
It is an honour actually. They have two  kids, boy and girl, so I will have to take my HongBao - little red packets- for the kids lol. I will get ones with Mickey Mouse on hehe.
It means that they consider me as part of the family to extend that invitation. 
Thenwe will watch the New Year in and the fireworks and I will stay at their home overnight.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 6, 2018)

scousebird said:


> Always a big Chinese New Year in the Chinatown district in Liverpool.  The road signs in the area are in English & Chinese (hot sure which dialect).


@scousebird
Most of the Chinese in the UK hail from Hog Kong and the dialect they speak is Cantonese which is totally different from Mandarin, different tones.
There are many different dialects here, I forget actually how many, and some Chinese people cannot understand people from other areas. Yang, for example, is from Yulinn,Guanxi  and speaks Haka dialect with his family which is a complete mystery to me. He also speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English. The Cantonese and Mandarin being completely different.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 6, 2018)

Drummer said:


> We used to get Chinese take away delivered, and I was always careful to wish them all the best for the coming year. I think it was the Cantonese version - gung hey fat choi 'happiness and prosperity'. We used to get excellent service, and the manager often brought our order round. He was always delighted at my efforts of perfect my pronunciation, and I was sad that we did not get to say goodbye when he retired last year. The food is not so good now too.
> I will think about him on the day, and wish him well.
> I was born in the year of the Xinmau - the rabbit, by the way.


That was the Cantonese dialect @Drummer. On the mainland it is Gong XI Fa Cai which means exactly the same. or Happy New Year which is Xin Nian Kuai Le.
All the stores now have what I call the Gong XI song belting out full blast to encourage shopping similar to what we in the UK etc, do with Christmas Carols.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 7, 2018)

I am a Tiger. 虎 hu
1950  Old Tiger  老虎 lao hu lao meaning old which in China doesn't mean decrepit, Age is highly respected and considered full of wisdom. Totally different to the West again.

Many young people call me Uncle 叔叔 shu shu which is a term of great respect and actually gives me honour.
So I am  known to the younger set as "shu shu wen zi"  Vince uncle 文斯叔叔. Unfortunately wenzi sounds the same as the word for mosquito 蚊子 wenzi but a different tone.
They will listen intently to every word and follow my advice, right or wrong, to the letter. That in itself presents drawbacks because my thought processes are different to that of Asia  and can create conflict at times.
The other thing that it is customary to do at Spring Festival is to wear something red. Signifies good luck for the coming year. Red is the colour of Good Fortune.
Red 红 hong
In the West we consider red a colour indicating danger and green as safe. Here it is totally the opposite, like many things.
The stock exchange for example shows healthy share upward movement in red and falling shares prices in green. It gets awfully confusing.
At the moment there is a lot of green because of the DOW effect on global share prices. There will be "a weeping and a wailing a plenty" over the next couple of weeks or so.
White is the colour of mourning whereas ours it is black.
It really does take some time to get used to these complete cultural contradictions.


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## robert@fm (Feb 7, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> They have two  kids, boy and girl, so I will have to take my HongBao - little red packets- for the kids lol. I will get ones with Mickey Mouse on hehe.


I presume you meant "jackets" -- and I suppose you're thinking of something like the one in the video below. 





__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1768894836462935
			




The above is _supposed_ to be a demonstration, by Fan Yuk Ching (Calvin Fan), of the newly introduced Tri-Cube puzzle; but I challenge anyone to watch it without being distracted by the antics of his cute daughter in the background.  She's called Summer and is about 18 months old.


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## Drummer (Feb 7, 2018)

No - packets - envelopes, with gifts of money for the new year.
In the north of England we used to wear red far more frequently than in other parts of the country, and when I moved south I stood out quite a lot.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 7, 2018)

robert@fm said:


> I presume you meant "jackets" -- and I suppose you're thinking of something like the one in the video below.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No Robert I did mean Packets or Envelopes like these Literally it means Red Packet hong bao 红包


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## Vince_UK (Feb 7, 2018)

robert@fm said:


> I presume you meant "jackets" -- and I suppose you're thinking of something like the one in the video below.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cannot watch it unfortunately Robert, Facebook like YouTube and many others is not "available" here


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

The Airport Yesterday


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## mikeyB (Feb 11, 2018)

I guess that crowd is split between actual travellers, and families saying goodbye. But even Heathrow never gets as bad as that


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

There are no families saying good bye, they are off to see ther families for te spring festival. That us the purpose of the travel. These are all passengers, no split.


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## SB2015 (Feb 11, 2018)

Enjoy the peace and quiet.
No point in using the week as an opportunity to travel home I guess as it is no doubt more expensive.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

SB2015 said:


> Enjoy the peace and quiet.
> No point in using the week as an opportunity to travel home I guess as it is no doubt more expensive.


The best place to be SB right now is at home lol Never travel in a Chinese Holiday if you value your sanity.


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## Amigo (Feb 11, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> The Airport Yesterday
> View attachment 6699



Eek! Gives me claustrophobia just looking at it but the Chinese seem to cope with lack of personal space better than any nationality. With land prices so high, people can be so crammed in. It was something the Chinese talked to us about because many lived with families in apartments one person would occupy here.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 11, 2018)

I'm with you @Amigo, that airport is my idea of hell! I hate large crowds of people, panic attack inducing


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

Amigo said:


> Eek! Gives me claustrophobia just looking at it but the Chinese seem to cope with lack of personal space better than any nationality. With land prices so high, people can be so crammed in. It was something the Chinese talked to us about because many lived with families in apartments one person would occupy here.


Absolutely true
The concept of personal space just doesn't exist at any level and that applies to personal property which they will happily make use of without considering to ask you if it ok to do so.
Try having a private conversation with a bank mamager lol
I have lost it on more than one occasion because of it.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> I'm with you @Amigo, that airport is my idea of hell! I hate large crowds of people, panic attack inducing


It is bad enough during normal travelling periods but hell on earth is an apt description. Now you should see the train stations and coach stations lol This is nothing compared to those.


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## trophywench (Feb 11, 2018)

OMG - said the woman who didn't even realise she was claustrophobic until on holiday in Goa she visited Panjim market on a trip one day!  Really it was more the beggars that bothered me the most, I wanted to stand a way off and look at the snake charmer though I didn't want to be any closer to the cobra than I was.  They seem to home in on people who can't cope with it, keep tugging your sleeves - and one nasty cow pinched my arm! - but picked the wrong one in me cos no way Moh'd would I pay them money to get them off me - do you get nuisance beggars in your bit of the world, Vince?


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## mikeyB (Feb 11, 2018)

This is how epidemics of flu develop. Or Ebola.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

trophywench said:


> OMG - said the woman who didn't even realise she was claustrophobic until on holiday in Goa she visited Panjim market on a trip one day!  Really it was more the beggars that bothered me the most, I wanted to stand a way off and look at the snake charmer though I didn't want to be any closer to the cobra than I was.  They seem to home in on people who can't cope with it, keep tugging your sleeves - and one nasty cow pinched my arm! - but picked the wrong one in me cos no way Moh'd would I pay them money to get them off me - do you get nuisance beggars in your bit of the world, Vince?


Yes as well as all types of scammers faking accidents  that you are blamed for. Never help anyone here that has collapsed in the street for example, chance is it will be a scam that will cost you and as a foreigner you have no chance. Police utterly corrupt at all levels.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 11, 2018)

One of the vilest practices I have found in Asia is that parents will deliberately mutilate their kids at birth so that they can have a life of begging on the streets. Thailand and India being prime locations for this.  When I say mutliation I mean physical injuries that cause permanent disabilities.  Arms off, legs twisted, backs even broken to inflict paraplegic injuries. Begging can be lucrative for them.
I actually breaks my heart and many a time I have shed a few tears of distress and outright blind anger when I see the results of this. A teenager crawling along the street through the crowds on his peice of cardboard unwashed carrying his little can begging when you know for a fact that is the results of his parents actions is anger invoking..  I never give anything. There is nothing one can to to stop it.
We in the West need to look around and consider ourselves extremely fortunate in many ways.


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## trophywench (Feb 12, 2018)

First time I came across reprehensible practices with children was a woman in the street in Almeria in Andalucia, 30+ years ago - actually pinching her babe-in-arms, to make the poor little beggar wail - nasty, nasty bitch!   But yes certainly in Goa, that's what was happening around the streets.  Even then Goa had a 'welfare state' and OK compared to us what they get was a pittance, but there again so was their cost of living and the wages paid matches.  In common with most of the people from that part of the world and the Caribbean who came to Britain in the 50s and 60s the bulk of the population was extremely enterprising and we were always pleased to try and put some of our money in their pockets where we could.

We'll have to let you know if any of us decide to visit Shanghai Vince - just in case we collapse deeply hypo in the street!  What a dangerous place to live if you are diabetic, epileptic, have heart trouble, are madly allergic to whatever, etc.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 12, 2018)

@trophywench 
It can be. The only thing that matters is money and money obtained by any way or means.
The most valuable thing to have is  rock solid concrete travel and medical insurance. That is a must, no questions. There are good Western hospitals here but very expensive.
Shanghai and China in general is worth visiting but you must come fully prepared and with a totally open mind.
I love the Caribbean and used to have a house on Aruba. Wonderful place, haven't been for a few years now. Sold the house about 12 years ago. My Son was married in the Dominican Republic then repeated the whole thing again in Sunderland. Total contrast


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## Vince_UK (Feb 13, 2018)

Well Ihave my Fu sign on the front door now. That will bring me good fortune and health for the Year of the Dog.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 15, 2018)

Good luck symbols for good fortune for the old factory. wWhen the new one is ready we will have a Dragon Dance opening


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## Vince_UK (Feb 15, 2018)

A friends New Years Eve breakfast out in the Country close to Wuhan
Known as  Tuan Yuan Fan. For the farmers this is an expensive meal.


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## Vince_UK (Feb 17, 2018)

Traditional childrens dress for the spring festival


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## trophywench (Feb 17, 2018)

How sweet!


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## Vince_UK (Feb 19, 2018)

Dragon Dancers in the HongQiao Shopping Mall this afternoon. They were going from shop to shop so as to bring them good luck. The noise of the drums in an enclosed space was literally deafening


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