To celebrate Chinese New Year in China, especially with family, is a fun and fascinating experience: the festive atmosphere, both at home and out on the town; the excessive consumption of food and alcohol; and, perhaps most exciting of all, the fireworks. In 2003 I spent Chinese New Year in Shanghai, and the amount of gunpowder detonated in that city in the 16-day period from New Year’s Eve through the Lantern Festival (on the 15th day of the lunar year) absolutely blew my mind. As a childhood pyromaniac who hadn’t indulged in fireworks in many years, I was on fire with excitement—though to some degree it was like being in a war zone, with so many fireworks going off at certain times that you could barely have a conversation outdoors and had to be constantly on guard against wayward rockets. My father-in-law and I burned a completely unjustifiable amount of cash on long strings of firecrackers, big batteries of missiles, and various other explosives. I strolled through the city streets, tossing firecrackers to and fro and setting them off in every nook and cranny to magnify the sound of the explosions. Obnoxious and environmentally irresponsible, to be sure…but also gloriously Dionysian, especially because it seemed like everyone was doing it. To put it simply, I had a blast. But I’m fortunate to have emerged from the experience with all ten fingers and all five senses intact.
In celebration of the lunar new year, I present some spectacular photos and a couple of video clips that will give you an idea of what the experience of celebrating Chinese New Year in China is like. We at CIT are looking forward to another successful year, and we’d like to wish all of our family, friends, and customers a prosperous Year of the Dragon. Thank you for your support!
Chinese New Year Fireworks Photo Gallery
Click on any photo below to open a full-sized version in a separate window.
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Explosions amidst residential buildings… (photo by Jaye Zhou) |
…now THAT’s what the Chinese term 熱鬧 (rènào; “lively”) means (photo by Aapo Haapanen) |
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Viewing from high-rise balconies is hazardous (photo by Harry Alverson) |
Fireworks stores pop up during the New Year (photo by Marc van der Chijs) |
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Let’s hope they’re well-shielded from stray sparks (photo by Christopher) |
“Fountains” light up streets and alleyways (photo by Fox Z.) |
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Mile-long strings of firecrackers scare away evil spirits… (photo by Ming-Yang Sue) |
…and people, too, if they know what’s good for them. (photo by Ming-Yang Sue) |
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Firecracker aftermath (photo by Ming-Yang Sue) |
There is an ironic beauty in all that potential destruction… (photo by Jakob Montrasio) |
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…especially in picturesque places, like Shanghai’s Huangpu River… (photo by Sebastien Poncet) |
…and Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour (photo by N.C. Burton) |
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| Hong Kong’s 2009 Chinese New Year fireworks (photo by N.C. Burton) |
China during the Lunar New Year: a country on fire (photo by Jinjian Liang) |
Check out these video clips to get an even clearer idea of just how crazy it can get (you might want to turn down the volume first):
