Today, March 15, marks the Chinese Lantern Festival and, thankfully, the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. I say thankfully because there have been roosters, destined to be some family’s dinner, waking me up at 4, 4:30 in the morning every day this week. And I am going to love sleeping in until 6 again!
Chinese New Year celebrations began on February 18, which was the eve of the New Year.
Kristen and I went to Jay and Yang’s apartment to dine on delicious Hot Pot and toast in the Year of the Sheep (Ram, Goat, whatever). We went home after midnight, exhausted and very well-fed.
Kristen and I went to Jay and Yang’s apartment to dine on delicious Hot Pot and toast in the Year of the Sheep (Ram, Goat, whatever). We went home after midnight, exhausted and very well-fed.
The next day, Jay and Yang took Kristen and me out to a dim sum restaurant that they knew would be open (so many restaurants were closed because of the holiday). Adam was flying in from Zhuhai that night to spend his holiday visiting his friends here in Chengdu. So after dinner, we went back to my place and watched a horror film, Anna, while waiting for his flight to get in. On the drive back to my place from the restaurant, we had noticed a guy on the side of the road selling Shao Kao. So after Adam’s flight arrived, we headed out for a late night, spicy snack to welcome him back to Chengdu.
The next day, everything was pretty much closed except the large shopping areas. So the five of us headed to IFS (International Finance Square) Mall where we shopped and considered watching a movie. We ended up bowling instead…which was a lot of fun. I hadn’t been bowling since high school but I did manage to have more hits than gutter balls. I actually ended up coming in second place, but Jay still soundly won.
I stayed in Chengdu through the first weekend of Chinese New Year, hanging out with friends, finding restaurants that were still open, watching shows (Galavant and American Horror Story) and movies (Krull and Annabelle), and having fun, talk-til-4am conversations. On Monday, I headed out of China bound for Seoul, South Korea.
Unfortunately, that trip is a story that will have to wait for another day. This weekend, I am heading out of the city with some coworkers to take a group of high school students to volunteer with 6th graders in Bazhong, about 4 hours northeast of Chengdu in the Daba Mountains…and I still have plenty of packing to do!
The Chengdu Chapter 