So the Lunar New Year was approaching, all I could think was that I'm sitting here, a two hour flight away from CHINA, the words "CHINESE New Year" bouncing around my head, I may have possibly been eating CHINESE food at the time... It seemed like I had no other choice and without thought or hesitation I rounded up some friends, some visas and some air tickets and we were off to Beijing for the long weekend.
There were a number of memorable moments within my short 3 day stay in the city, such as the Great Wall, the great hostel and the not so great duck; but I feel that I should focus my attention on the New Year itself.Much like my skiing experience, I had an image in my head of what to expect. It included parades, dragons, one massive firework display somewhere central, more dragons, street shows, dragons, bright lights, dragons and fireworks. Unlike my skiing experience, all my expectations were surpassed and were nothing like I had imagined.
On Saturday we went on a hunt for action. Where are the people? The People setting up camp for the evenings show? I grew up in Australia, and my idea of a firework display included setting up during day light to secure a spot. Where were the dragons?!?!? Had we come to the wrong city?
After chatting a few times to our wonderful hostel staff, they assured us there was "no where to be", which disappointed us greatly. Luckily, the manager took a liking to us and said to be back by midnight to join her on the roof of the hostel for a drink.
We wandered the streets and side-alleys for a while, only to watch all the locals setting off firecrackers everywhere and anywhere. I even saw children lighting them and cars driving around them; it was madness. This sight is unbelievable within itself, for 15 days straight this is a normality; every where you go, day or night, you will either hear or see explosions; its how I imagine a war-zone to be... obviously, without all the death.
Midnight came and we headed up to the roof of the hostel with our beer; and in the cheesiest words I could think of "the magic happened." This is a sight that I feel everybody MUST experience at least once in their lifetime. The city is literally on fire! All around you, 360 degrees, every Person in the city is burning up the sky. I was over-whelmed and had no idea which direction to even look in. Fireworks were exploding next to me, behind me, to the left and right and above me... to top it off, this doesn't end. It peeks at midnight and continues for possibly an hour and then slowly calms down but still continues throughout the night. The hostel manager explained why this was happening all across the country. There is an old story that tells of a ghost that brings bad luck; the ghosts name in Chinese means "Year". The Chinese people believe that if every year, they make as much noise and light as they can outside their homes and work places, they will scare off the ghost for yet another year. I wouldn't want to be the one person in China who forgets. She also explained that the Chinese people happily spend on these 15 days, buying as many of the most elaborate fireworks as they can; regardless of income.
Long story short... It was Awesome. 
