This was Jenny Hammond's first breath-catching Chinese Lunar New
Year in China and the Cheshire, England, native enjoyed fireworks
looking down from a skyscraper and steeped herself in the lore of
fortune and good luck.
Firecrackers, pigs, flowers, color, noise, no available taxis
anywhere, throngs of people, smiling well wishers, rice cakes,
jade, gold, and good-luck charms -- all mixed together in a
bursting montage to see in the Chinese New Year.
As an expat living in Shanghai, the first thing that struck me
in the run- up to the Spring Festival was the heightened sights and
smells. A reminder of my initial impressions of the city when I
first arrived.
Perceptions that had been lost or perhaps had become familiar
were refreshed with the potent spices and fragrances that laced the
thick air during the weeklong holiday. It was as if I was
experiencing China, Shanghai again for the first time!
February 18 marked the first day of the Chinese New Year, or the
Year of the Pig. There were firecrackers going off late into the
night, lucky oranges and plum blossoms in shop windows, and a lot
of red and gold decorations everywhere. Although there were no
champagne toasts and no "Auld Lang Syne," Chinese New Year was a
truly spectacular celebration.
Spanning a 15-day period, the first day of the Lunar New Year
was "the welcoming of the gods of the Heavens and Earth." This was
a time that many people abstained from meat because it is believed
that this would ensure long and happy lives.
For me, one of the most fascinating parts of the celebration was
the different elements of fortune and superstition. Good and bad
luck seem to play a strong role, unlike the British New Year where
the aim for many is to drink as much as possible and find a
suitable partner to kiss at the stroke of midnight.
With meaning behind everything, it was enjoyable discovering the
different things that could bring luck. Many Chinese holiday
traditions are heavily steeped in symbolism, beyond the typical
associations between shapes and colors, the large number of
homophones in the Chinese language has made the Chinese fond of
puns and wordplay.
The word "fish" in Chinese sounds very similar to the word for
"surplus," so if you eat fish on Chinese New Year's Eve, you are
hoping for a year of abundance. Oranges and tangerines are often
given as gifts at New Year's Day since the words for these fruits
sound like wealth and luck, respectively.
Many Chinese households put up little red diamond-shaped posters
on their doors. However, the poster is always upside down, because
the word for "upside down" sounds similar to the word for "arrive,"
meaning you're inviting good fortune and prosperity to your
home.
But you don't need to know the meaning behind the oranges or the
rice cakes to feel the festive spirit in the streets. Shanghai over
the holiday seemed to be transformed into a proverbial ghost town,
as much as a city with a population of 17 million can be.
Most shops were closed, even the antique market that you would
have suspected would make a bustling trade over the holiday. But
many shops selling fireworks were open. It was rather novel to be
able to wander down Huaihai Road without the continuous bombardment
of handbag and DVD touts.
The city seemed to slow down for the week, transforming its
usual busy businesslike mentality to a truly holiday feel. With the
ayi gone, fewer taxi drivers, firecrackers fizzing and
spluttering on most pavements, even Element Fresh seemingly not
available for a couple of days. It would have been easy to feel
like a lonely foreigner abandoned in this city.
However, the amount of families and friends with invitations to
celebrate with them in their homes for the holiday was
overwhelming. And of course the most important part of Chinese New
Year, like any other holiday, is the chance to celebrate with
family and friends. By the fifth day, called Po Woo, the
celebrations seemed to reach a climax.
With a crescendo of fireworks in the evening working up to a
spectacular finale at midnight, it seemed as if the whole city was
going to explode. It is a very surreal experience to watch
fireworks from a skyscraper. Looking down as they sparkle then
burst is oddly therapeutic, and this should also be said for the
relief of neck cramps, caused by the traditional way of watching
the displays -- face to the sky.
New Year for me had always been somewhat overshadowed by the
joviality of Christmas, and my experiences of Chinese New Year were
limited to my local Liverpool Chinatown. There, red dragons would
dance around the streets and happy Chinese residents let off party
poppers and offered passers-by prawn crackers and paper charms.
But seeing how the Shanghainese did it has brought a fresh magic
to the already-spectacular festival. All that was missing for me
was the dragon dance which I narrowly missed.
Oh well, there is always next year. So the only thing that is
left to say is "Best wishes for a happy and prosperous New
Year."
Liverpool's Chinatown celebrates
Liverpool, one of England's more colorful cities, is known for
its iconic musicians such as the Beatles and football stars like
Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen and, of course, the defining (or
deafening) scouse accent.
However, a little known fact is that Shanghai is linked to
Liverpool, twinned as a sister city. With the oldest Chinatown in
Europe and the long history of sea links, Liverpool and Shanghai
have been joined for hundreds of years.
So with the strong Chinese influence, over Chinese New Year,
Liverpool was ablaze with Oriental cheer. To give you a flavor of
the far-off celebrations, Mark McNulty, a well-known Liverpool
photographer, took some snaps of festivities on the day.
"Liverpool is very big on celebrating and the Chinese New Year
has become a major event on the city's calendar," McNulty says.
It's a big family affair with fairground rides surrounding the
Chinatown area where most of the fireworks are.
It's surprising, but most of the celebration performers are
European, says the photographer.
More than 10,000 Chinese people live in Merseyside and about
3,000 in the city center and many are involved in the celebrations,
of course. But from dancers to dragons, actual performers tend to
be Europeans, he says.
McNulty is working on a photography project about Shanghai and
Liverpool similarities. He will be documenting their rapid
changes.
He cites links in popular culture, river-based tourism and
construction cranes, as well as people's penchant for wearing
nightwear in the daytime and outdoors.
McNulty first visited Shanghai two years ago. He was struck by
the emergency of new forms of popular culture. He plans to visit
again next year and photograph the Chinese New Year in
Shanghai.
(Shanghai Daily February 26, 2007)