Spring Festival - Gina
Year of the Pig
Xin Nian Hao! There are many ways to say “Happy New Year” in China. Many people say xin nian hao, which is “new year good”. It is the year of the pig, having left the year of the dog behind. This pig year is special in that it a golden pig year, which happens on every fifth pig year. Since the cycle is twelve years long, that means that a golden pig year, which is extra good luck, only happens every sixty years. I’ve heard that condom sales have decreased because couples want to have their only child before the year of the mouse.
At Chen Xi’s House
We were lucky enough to be invited to the homes of two different college students who are friends of ours. Chen Xi lives a few hours by bus from Ya’an in the countryside.
On New Year’s Eve we were greeted by many members of Chen Xi’s extended family. Because of China’s one child policy most people Chen Xi’s age have no siblings and often refer to their cousin’s as sisters and brothers. In general the Chinese call their grandparents siblings, sometimes any familiar older person, “grandpa” and “grandma”, and any familiar adult of their parent’s generation is “uncle” or “aunt”. It was a little confusing for us as we were introduced to everyone from “my sister’s mother’s brother”, to “my grandmother’s mother”, to “the landlord’s daughter”. It was one big happy family with lots of food and hot tea and baijiu (Chinese liquor).
The Landlord’s Daughter
Chen Xi’s ancestral home was bulldozed a few years ago to make way for a factory. Everyone who lived there still lives within one kilometer of the place, but in different houses. Her mother’s parents are living in a rented farm house in a little settlement of about ten houses surrounded by farm fields. Although they have moved to Chengdu, the owner’s family keeps a shrine in the front for their ancestors in the front room. On New Year’s Eve they paid a short visit to perform the ritual of burning fake money to honor the ancestors.
The five year old daughter of the landlord was all decked out for the Spring Festival, with curly pigtail extensions and red boots. She was very shy and maintained a very low profile until her mother convinced her to dance for us. What a treat.
After Dinner
After eating lots of food, it started to get dark. The sound of fire crackers had been around all day, hinting at what was to come. It was particularly exciting for us because we weren’t sure of what to expect. We were told that at midnight it would be impossible to sleep. At about 7:00 PM the firecrackers and fireworks from near and far slowly began to build. First we ran out to the road. Then we ran up to the roof of the house: even better! It was only 7:20! I asked Chen Xi if we were going to be doing this until midnight. No, it’s time to watch the Gala on TV. The Gala is this New Year extravaganza of singing, dancing, acrobatics, skits, comedy routines, etc. from all different provinces and ethnic groups. We went inside, sat on the bed, and watched TV. We watched for many hours. At one point, Chen Xi’s grandmother came in with a big kettle of hot water and poured it into a tub for foot washing. We took off our shoes and socks and submerged our cold feet into the steaming hot water. It was too hot for Lou and I. Chen Xi translated for her grandmother who said, “The hotter the better.”
Finally at about 11:30 it was time to go back up to the roof. It was amazing? Three hundred and sixty degrees of sound and color. We didn’t know which way to look. While we were standing there in the cold, dark, festive air with huge grins on our faces, Chen Xi handed us bunches of sparklers and began to shoot off their fireworks from the roof. Wow! Happy New Year!
New Year’s Day
We were woken the next morning by the sound of firecrackers and roosters crowing. After a bowl of sweet dumpling soup for breakfast, Chen Xi, Lou, and I headed for a morning stroll through the local market and city park. The park was particularly fun and interesting. It was very pretty and park-like, with winding paths through the trees and old style bridges. A large part of the park was an amusement park with many families enjoying the celebratory environment.
There was everything from rides to cotton candy to teahouses to games. Chen Xi asked me to join her on the dragon swing. No way! I found myself draw to the guy to makes candy in the shape of whatever you land on when you spin a spinner. It’s a combination of zodiac animals and various other Chinese images. I got a peach. Yum. As we were heading out of the park, we came across a small lake with the amusement of all: gigantic plastic bubbles with kids inside each one floating on the water. They reminded me of gerbil toys. It was hilarious to watch.
After eating yet another wonderful meal with Chen Xi’s family, we had to say our good byes and catch the bus for Shuangliu to visit She Hongxia and her family. While passing through Chengdu and changing buses we happened upon a lion dancer group. This is very high energy Spring Festival tradition of drums, cymbals, dancing, and crowds. The lions are giant puppets made of bamboo and paper with two or more dancers inside. It was quite a spectacle. One of the best things about Spring Festival in this part of China is that it’s actually spring. The trees are beginning to flower and there are pansies and primroses everywhere.
At She Hongxia’s Uncle’s House
It took longer to get to Shuangliu than we had hoped, but we geared up our energy for the next round of fun, food, and New Year’s customs. We had brought some musical instruments with us so that Chen Xi could share some she has been learning at Musical English Corner with her family. She was actually a little shy so we only played a couple of tunes. When we got to Hongxia’s it was a different story because Hong Xia is quite a dancer. We played waltzes and Hongxia got many members of her family, young and old, to dance. We’re sad that we don’t have pictures, but we couldn’t take them because we were playing. It was an interesting contrast to the Chinese backdrop.
At She Hongxia’s House
The next day was all about preparing for the big midday meal with more relatives. We went with Hongxia to the fields to pick some vegetables. What a thrill! Lou and I shelled a huge amount of peas while Hongxia and her stepmother peeled and chopped potatoes and qin cai. They were at least twice as fast as us. The Chinese are amazingly quick at food preparation and cooking. After a while there were many hands involved in the whole meal.
Meanwhile others were enjoying a game of cards called “Fight the Landlord”. They spent a fair amount of time trying to teach the game to Lou. They were speaking Chinese the whole time, so although he gets the basic idea, he remains a little confused.
The meal was a relaxed affair, with plenty of baijiu flowing. She Hongxia’s family is very down to earth and easy to get along with, and even though we couldn’t say much to each other, managed to communicate good feelings all around. Like so many meals in China, this one trailed along quite slowly, everyone eating and chatting and enjoying each other’s company.
After the meal, we began our goodbyes so as to head back Ya’an. And so begins the Year of the Pig. Xin Nian Hao!
