Year of the Dragon...

China kicks ass on New Years!  Now this is a holiday.  Nine day, government holiday. Everything is closed, everyone is gone.  And little to no air space is saved from firework blasts.  Kids don't have a bed time, 600 million people migrate and more fireworks explode by the minute than do in the US on a whole fourth of July.  This shit is crazy. And SOOOOOO dangerous.  And so awesome. I loaded two videos from a roof top bar on the first 'official' night of the New Year.  Mayhem, really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVpoteWJQJs&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLxGea1ffA&feature=g-upl&context=G28b15afAUAAAAAAAAAA    Whoa.

Its the year of the dragon, which means, its going to be a great year.  I don't really know what it means/its supposed to be a year of good fortune, but, anyway, experiencing this epic holiday here in China has been amazing.

Numero Uno: ice sculptures.  This one tasted delicious.

Numero Dos: the streets of this otherwise insanely rushed, trafficked, obnoxiously noisy and busy city are literally all but empty.  Seriously.  Where have all the people gone?  This I said to myself daily.  Empty subway trains, empty buses.  Very interesting really, because if there is no one here, then who is shooting off all those freaking fireworks!?

Boom, boom, blast, pop, pop, pop, every night, all night (and day).  It started last Friday and it was still going off ten days later. So, the fireworks are amazing like i said; but, so are the dumplings! Numero tres: Dumplings.

Dumplings are the traditional food of the Chinese New Year. A few of my co-workers were able to get together to partake in this tradition with our Chinese friend Sunny.  She has been making dumplings since she was six.  It was so fun and apparently the more you eat, the more prosperous your year to come will be...I expect to be very prosperous as our dumplings were delicious!

After 10+days of fireworks, my ears, and the streets, need a rest.  There is firework confetti everywhere and the smoke still hangs in the air (imagine that, Beijing).  But, wow, what an experience.  Ten days off of work, I saw dragon dance, heard fireworks, visited the mountains outside of Beijing (and saw fireworks from a distance),  ran from fireworks, seemed alone in a city of 22 million, saw fireworks blast against the sides of buildings, had sooo much fun and loved China for the first time.  Year of the Dragon: welcomed.