Spring Festival: Part 1

The last few weeks have been a busy and interesting time for us.  We just finished celebrating the most important holiday of the year here--Spring Festival.  It is a time for family members to come from different parts of the country to reunite and welcome the New Year.  It's also a time for strengthening relationships within the community.  Nearly every business closes for at least a week as people gather together to enjoy the holiday.
Because this particular festival is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, it falls on a different date every year.  This year February 14th was the big day, with preparations beginning several days before hand, and celebrations lasting for about two weeks after.
It was fun to be out and about the week before the festival, as everyone was busy getting things ready for the holiday.  The streets were full of vendors selling boxed fruit--the most common gift given to family and friends during this time of year.  Students were out of school, playing at the parks and enjoying their holiday, and the bus stations were full of people coming and going to see their families.  The clothing and shoe stores were crowded as well, with people buying new things to wear the week of the festival as a symbol of good fortune for the coming year.
Traffic blocked the streets in front of the fireworks shops, most of which are only open during festival time.  (Many make enough money during this time of year to pay their overhead for the whole year!)  We took this picture during the week after New Year's so we could actually see into the store!

The markets were also the place to be, with people buying pork, fresh chickens and fish, and the many other types of food that will be enjoyed over the holiday season.  Many people bought their chickens and roosters well in  advance of the holiday, though, and kept them on their balconies and in pens in their homes so they could fatten them up for the feast!  So for about two weeks before the festival, every morning around 5 AM we were showered with rooster greetings from all over the neighborhood.  Ah, the sounds of the season!  (Needless to say, we were glad when it suddenly got a lot quieter in the mornings around here!)
It was so interesting being here and celebrating this holiday with our friends.  The last two years we were out of country during this time--once in the States with Susanna being sick, and once in Thailand having Emily.  So we were glad to be able to enjoy some very special opportunities to spend time with friends this year, as well as learn much about their customs and the deep rooted beliefs behind them.
Traditionally, families gather on the eve of the New Year, with meal preparations beginning early in the morning. It's a time for catching up, playing mahjong, eating favorite foods, and enjoying spending time together.   We were invited to spend the evening with a friend and her parents here in her home, along with another couple who were unable to go across country to see their families for the holiday.  On the ride over we had to hold our ears a few times as we passed fireworks going off in front of homes along the way!

After we arrived, the kids played and Emily enjoyed a freshly stewed chicken foot while we stuffed dumplings together and cooked the meal.













Then we enjoyed a feast, complete with pork and vegetables, fermented tofu, fresh chicken soup (raised by our friend and killed a few hours before!), dried salt cured beef, many types of beans and stir fried vegetables, and boiled fish--a symbol of prosperity and abundance in the coming year.

 We were sure not to eat all of the fish (though I don't think we could have if we'd tried, there was so much of it!) because it's considered bad luck.  Knocking things over or breaking things is also considered a bad omen, but (all credit to our kids!) unfortunately by the end of the night we'd broken not one but TWO of our friend's bowls--OOOPS!!!  But our friend was very gracious, especially since she doesn't hold to the traditional belief system here.
It was a fun night--we stayed up late chatting and watching the annual New Year program on TV, complete with comedy skits, magic acts, and musical performances.  We were honored to be invited to participate in such an important time.

We returned home about an hour before midnight, just in time to get the kids asleep before we enjoyed the fireworks show of our lives!  We'd been hearing them all day, but as the time drew closer to bring in the New Year, they grew into a crescendo of explosions and bursts of color like I'd never seen--at least not from the comfort of my own home!  It was like having our very own Times Square right outside our window!
I took this video just as it turned midnight, standing at my kitchen window...  (*Note: all our windows were closed!) 

Midnight fireworks @ Yahoo! Video

Believe it or not, the kids never woke up!
On the surface it seems that people just really like to celebrate and go all out--and they do--but in our study of this holiday, we learned a bit about the cultural significance of the fireworks and the meaning behind the tradition...
Legend has it that long ago, there was a beast who would come to terrorize people at this time every year. One year when he came to wreak havoc among the people, a boy made a very loud sound, and it scared the beast away.  So the people began lighting bamboo (which naturally explodes when heated) to create loud sounds to scare the beast away each year.  Over time, fireworks were developed and have been used to scare away the beast--called "Year"--ever since.
Now fireworks are an essential part of the festival every year.  Families set off fireworks at various times specifically to scare off ghosts and supernatural evil, and to protect the household from bad fortune.  Many believe that during Spring Festival if your neighbors set off more fireworks, or louder fireworks than you, then the ghosts and evil will come to your home for the coming year. So there is a very real motivation behind the peoples efforts to make sure the fireworks at their homes are LOUD and ABUNDANT!
While children enjoyed playing with small firecrackers all throughout the season, pretty much every household set off several strands of (VERY!) loud fireworks right on their front doorstep, starting the afternoon of New Year's Eve, lasting throughout the evening, and of course in the hour leading up to and following midnight.  They dropped off in the wee hours of the morning, and began again around 6 AM.  This was the schedule around the clock for the coming 10 or more days (by the end of the festival we were thinking maybe the roosters hadn't been so bad!)  The last day of the fireworks was two weeks later, when our friends here celebrate the culmination of the holiday--"Sending off the Year" festival.

Anyway, when we walked out of our apartment on New Year's day, vestiges of the celebration were every where!  Here the kids are standing in our "yard" right outside our door.



Red fireworks casings paved the streets in front of every house.





Every door was decorated with red scrolls above and on each side, new red lanterns hung in the front entryways, and every doorfront donned posters of images symbolizing prosperity, wealth, peace and blessing for the coming year.

 This home also hung a strand of decorative (not real) fireworks from the bottom of the second floor balcony.

By far the most common door poster is this one--"Door God"--his fierce appearance is believed to protect the home from ghosts and evil spirits and bring peace to the household.

 

 This cloth hangs in the doorway of my friend's home.  It is a symbol that is believed to bring peace and blessing and protect the house from evil spirits. 

This hangs above the bedroom door and was painted by a fortune teller.  Things like these are everywhere--in cars and restaurants, on trees and in homes.  Some have needles, some feathers, some are cloths are tied in special ways and put in certain places, others have things painted on them. 
Each time we go out, the decorations all around us serve as a vivid reminder of the beliefs in the hearts and minds of our dear neighbors and friends.