Celebrations in the Middle Kingdom

Well, ladies and gents, Spring Festival/New Year is just 1 week away and my local friends are already gearing up for it. Asia has never been more Asia, at least while I've been here! For your reading pleasure I have decided to post the top 10 signs you know Spring Festival is headed your way.

1. Roadside stands have popped up every 30.7 feet selling the most beautiful decorations one could imagine. By beautiful, I do mean tacky and almost unbearable! 

2. There are people everywhere. I know what you're thinking, "With 1.3 billion people, aren't there always people everywhere?" While that statement is indeed true, I promise you there are more people than I've ever seen. No school and some have started having less work. It's nuts.

3. Drinking games...people here love vodka and what's better than a drinking game with your vodka. There are always some drunks somewhere drinking, but, oh wow, I've REALLY started to notice it. 

4. Pizza Hut is packed! Some friends and I went to the Hut this past Friday night and by the time we left it was jam packed (it hardly ever is)! People love to eat during this time of the year, and many people spend more money. P.S. you all should know that salad bar trips are 1 time only here, thus getting salad is really a work of art. I will attempt to explain in a later post!

5. Red lanterns...they are everywhere!

6. Bus stations, train stations, and airports are jammed packed as everyone is starting to travel home for the festival

7. TONS of candy...all the aisles in my grocery store are devoted to candy it seems. Apparently this sugary goodness is quite necessary for the festival.

8. Bulls...everywhere. The new year is the year of the bull. You can get any size or type of bull you would want. Last week a friend and I were on the bus and saw a man on a bicycle cart hauling a bull sculpture...like the famous one wherever it is (New York?). It was huge, really, probably bigger than a car and he was definitely hauling it on a bicycle cart. 

9. Sales and bargains at every store. People here love a good bargain. 

10. FIREWORKS! So, leave it to the place that invented the suckers to use them more than anyone else. They ward off demons, scare the mess out of foreigns, and provide hours of joyous melody for the ears. Although it's still a week away, most people are attempting to do a test run of their fireworks display to take place on New Year's Eve. When my tutor asked if I would be here for New Years and I told him yes, his response was something like, "BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!" My response was something like rolling my eyes and wondering if Tylenol PM exists here!!