Chinese New Year!

February 14th marked the beginning of Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year -- a MEGA-holiday in China. There's some other piddly little holidays, but this is the only one for which businesses close their doors and people don't have to work, at least, for a couple days. We were invited to celebrate with Ms. Mao who otherwise would have been alone. She's divorced, her daughter is studying in Belgium, and the relatives live far away. She made us a special pig stomach for New Year's Eve supper.







Dear teachers,
The winter vacation starts from 24th, January to 28th, February.
The Spring Festival in China is 14th， February. From 13th to 19th in February are public holiday, which is the most important festival in China. People usually buy lots of foods and vegetables one or two weeks before and have a big family gathering. Near the spring festival, the price of food tends to be a little higher.
On the eve of spring festival, people usually stay awake until 24:00 clock. At that time, the fireworks will be lighted to welcome the new year (lunar calendar). During Spring festival, people like to wear new clothes and visit their relatives and friends to wish them a happy new year. Beaware of the fireworks in the street at that time, Chinese boys like to play them everywhere.
Near the Spring Festival, the traffic is very heavy. In the bus or the train, people are very crowned. If you are going to travel, please book the tickets in advance.

- email from our Chinese boss, Mr. Ming



Happy New Year! 新年快乐！

from the a's


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