Beyond Bounds Blog

Chinese new year is the most exciting holiday for Chinese and many other cultures throughout the world that are traditionally based on the lunar calendar instead of the solar one. Everyone gets lots of time off from work and the entire country celebrates. For a westerner who has no idea what to expect and is in China, this can actually be quite a disappointment. Don’t let this happen to you - take some advice and have a great New Year (or 牛 year for those who have learned to speak Chinese). Turn disappointments into success by doing the following:

Disappointment: The Chinese migration is insane. Transportation throughout the entire country gets locked up for a week as people travel across the country on their way home, with ticket prices jumping to insane levels – assuming you can even get them – and crowds that put Black Friday morning rush to shame (that’s the biggest shopping day in the US, just after Thanksgiving; it’s pretty crazy). If you’re thinking about traveling during the Chinese New year while in China, you’re going to have a headache.

Solution: Don’t travel. Get to a city and stay there for the entire celebration. The celebration is based around bonding with close friends and family anyway, not like Mardi Gras - another American reference, well sharing a little of both cultures here). Find any friends that are still at where you’re at and try to get together with them, and preferably Chinese.

Disappointment: Chinese New Year is not a public celebration, and other than the decorations and fireworks there isn’t much available for an outsider to enjoy. This surprised me incredibly when I first came to China, as I expected (as many others do) that Chinese New Year would be an amazing and crazy time to meet and party with lots of different people. When the New Year came around, I found myself in a bar with my American friends asking ourselves “where did everyone go?”

Solution: Become an insider, or put on your own celebration. Do not expect to be entertained by the “Spring Festival”; it’s not a festival in a western way. Instead find a Chinese family to take you in for the New Year. There are plenty of Chinese families who would love to have a foreigner stay with them for a few days – I’ve had tens of invitations. It is a real honor for a Chinese family to take someone else in as family. If you can’t do this, which you really should be able to, then organize your own New Years celebration with your friends.

Disappointment: The streets are empty and almost everything is closed. Good luck trying to find an open convenience store, let alone a place to have dinner (well, now there is 7-11). While everyone is celebrating the New Year, everything is closed down for the week. Even most of your favorite bars and clubs are going to be down. What to do?!

Solution: Slow down. This is one of those times that when you’re in Rome, you really should do as the Romans do. Chinese New Year is a special time for these people that work 10+ hours a day to stop and spend some time doing things that are most important in life – spend time with family and friends at home and enjoy the world around them. Take this time to stop in your tracks and really smell the roses. The distractions are gone (well, once again other than those fireworks), so take a moment and clean your house, re-organize your life, have a deep conversation with a friend, and cook a meal at home. Take a deep breath and unwind – it will do you good.

Disappointment: Fireworks are great, but not 24/7 for 2 weeks. Stop the noise already!

Solution: Get earplugs and be careful where you walk. Fireworks are set off for good luck – to drive the bad things into the past to clear a new way into the New Year. Those who complain about them are not complaining because of the fireworks, but rather because it reminds them that they are not having fun due to many of the above “disappointments.” You’ll find if you get into the spirit of the occasion, fireworks actually add a lot to the atmosphere. I set off fireworks the other night, but I complained about them just last year.

Get out of your box and into the Chinese one and you’ll find that you actually can enjoy Chinese New Year – though perhaps not in the same way that you expected. I’ll write more next time about exactly what the celebrations entail and what you can expect