Three consecutive phases of the holiday

In China the Spring Festival is one of unbridled celebration and unique in all the world. The holiday has three consecutive phases of preparation, activities, and completion.

Preparation begins many months before the time of February because travel plans must be made. For example, to travel to Beijing by the new bullet train named Big Iron, it was necessary for my wife to purchase the tickets well in advance. Once there at Peking University, train tickets to Shanghai were obtained in advance. The travel itself required planning. We arrived by taxi at the train station much in advance of the departure times. The stations were very crowded with Chinese people going to visit their family members in the countryside. The people had many beautiful hats in bright blue, orange, red, and yellow. The children wore new thick warm clothes and had beautiful rosy cheeks. Mothers fed young children constantly, and then they would nap. Parents spoke to children in dialects of Chinese because they were traveling to and from many different places.

The train station at Shanghai was very busy and well organized to move the flow of travelers. There was a special line for taxi cabs to ensure people were whisked away to their destinations in the city. Colorful lights on the unusual office buildings marked the impending celebration. Hotel staff already greeted visitors with "Happy New Year" in Chinese. The flower decorations inside were elaborate with pinks and whites. Standup pictures of Lao Gong in Tang suit and Lao Po in cheongsam were in the lobby. We bought train tickets beforehand for Nanjing.

At Nanjing, the old southern capital where Beijing in Mandarin is sometimes pronounced Peking in the local dialect, the train station was busy, and the buses were filled with travelers and their suitcases of gifts. Because travel for the new year was so busy, we decided to fly from Nanjing back to Changsha. The airport in Nanjing was also crowed with travelers.

In Changsha, the activities really began. For 15 days there were fireworks going off in the morning and evening. The sound was not pop pop or bang bang but boom boom boom because the explosions reverberated and echoed off of the many taller buildings. We enjoyed family dinners where the children and young people received red envelopes with money from their older relatives. Fried cashews were plentiful throughout the sumptuous meals. I bought my step son a wireless mouse at the Chinese Walmart which was not so busy because of the New Year. A nice thing about the Spring Festival in Changsha is that the buses become less crowded, the traffic and honking is less, and it is easier to cross the streets with fewer people waiting.

After 15 days, the fireworks became silent in anticipation of the next year's festival, the taxis became more plentiful, and the foot traffic on the street returned to normal. Businesses reopened, and commercial activities resumed. The hustle and bustle of everyday life returned, and China became a very busy place again for the hopeful New Year.

By Colin James III