Hong Kong Chronicles: Here We Are, Another Chinese New Year

During Chinese New Year,  people get enamored with hyacinths, daffodils,
plants with globular flowers, and funny-shaped fruit that are not edible.

Don't shower on New Year's Day, cautions the online Hong Kong Timeout magazine, because showering will wash away your good luck. The magazine also lists other traditional Chinese New Year do's and don'ts, including:

Don't buy shoes because "shoe" sounds like evil in Chinese.

Don't break things because it may lead to a broken family.

Don't slice and dice because it may lead to the death of a family member.

Do wear red. No reasons given.

Red underwear, a very popular item at this time of year

For the complete article, click here.

So what does one do on Chinese New Year from my perspective? One makes a lot of noise by going to visit family members and bursting out in choruses of loud and excited greetings before entering the house, so the noise will travel down the corridor for all to hear. One buys a lot of extremely tall plants or plant cuttings to swipe at fellow pedestrians while walking down crowded streets. What's more, one listens to a lot of traditional Chinese New Year's music being repeated over and over at the stores so that one's ears will be ringing with the sounds of gongs and cymbals for weeks on end. Did I say "a lot" a lot?

You can use these tall bushes to whack fellow pedestrians

Short of a tall bush, you can always use these inflatable giraffes to abuse other shoppers

Actually, I don't mind the holiday so much because we get a few days off, and everyone around us is scurrying in a festive mood. People throng the supermarkets and stores, piling up their carts with special foods, new clothes, gifts, plants, and red and gold decorations.

Last year, we had a wonderful time during the CNY holidays doing the unconventional: going out when everyone in Hong Kong stayed in and staying in when everyone went out (see here for last year's blog). I hope the weather will be good so we can go out again and have the beaches all to ourselves.

In case you're wondering--most likely we will still shower on New Year's Day.