Chinese New Year in my eyes

Updated: 2015-03-11 16:21

 

I spent Spring Festival at Xi’an city and visited as many places as possible to observe the transformation for the New Year’s. One of the most amazing places was the area of DaYanTa that surrounds the Big Pagoda of Xian. It was possible to find a lot of local people there working to decorate all the streets, bridges and trees with small red lamps. At some places they are just red paper lamps and at some other places they have lights inside that are switched on at night, offering a warm and charming environment.

During these previous weeks China experiences one of the year's largest migrations of people as thousands of students and workers return to their hometowns to spend the holiday together with their families. All airports, train and bus stations are busy and crowded since early in the morning.

It is really interesting to be at these crowded places and see how the people returning home take a lot of presents, local snacks and souvenirs from Xi’an to their hometowns, as well as people returning to their homes in Xi’an bring the snacks and souvenirs typical from the places where they spend the whole year.

My Chinese friends in Xi’an invited me to spend the New Year at their homes. This is the best way to understand what Spring Festival means for local people.

The tradition of many families is to start New Year’s Eve preparing Chinese dumplings. This involves most family members working together, including the children, who love to help their parents. The dumplings will be ready to eat after midnight of the new year.