More Fireworks

I've posted another video on YouTube of the fireworks that took place on New Year's Eve. This is the early session that started after supper that night. It's not as impressive as the one that took place at midnight, but still plenty loud. It should give you a sense of what goes on in the neighborhood when people get their pyrotechnics going at the same time. Keep in mind, these aren't professionals, just average citizens letting loose. Believe it or not you can buy these kinds of fireworks at every corner store here without having to have a license or fill out fake forms like you do back home.

Here's the alternate link in case it doesn't load on this page.

Here is another video shot by a guy who lives on the southeast side of town on the 20th floor of a building. It has a more panoramic view of the city and shows how widespread the celebration was.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! Guo Nan Hao!

Cathy returned to her hometown to spend Spring Festival with her family and I caught a flu bug, so I stayed home. (Something about New Year here--I seem to recall being sick last year too.) As I’ve mentioned before, blowing stuff up is a big part of celebrating New Year here. The schedule for New Year’s Eve is to have a big dinner around 6 P.M., go outside and blow a few things up, then come back inside and watch the festivities on TV. (Kind of like our Dick Clark special back home.) At midnight, you go back outside and blow the rest of your stuff up. Well, there was no sleeping from about 7-8 tonight, so I went on my back porch and shot some video of the neighbors blowing their stuff up. When they were done, I went back to bed until they encouraged me to get up again at about 11:55. This time I went to the front side of our building and shot some video. I posted it on YouTube and here it is.

Here is another link in case the video on this page doesn't load correctly.



Note: This is NOT any kind of professional, city-sponsored fireworks display. This is just the neighbors going out in the street, courtyards, sidewalks, and blowing stuff up. And this is just ONE neighborhood in a small part of ONE city here. Imagine what it’s like all over the country. Plus, this is only the stuff that goes up in the air. On street-level, people are setting of coils containing thousands of firecrackers, roman candles, sparklers, bottle rockets and other things that you can’t see above the rooftops. I walked around during Round 1 this evening and it’s pretty cool. A lot of gunpowder in the air.

By the way, this is the Year of the Pig. The Chinese zodiac is divided into twelve, like the western one, and each one is given an animal. For example, 1956, the year I was born, was the Year of the Monkey, and every 12 years after that. (The latest Year of the Monkey was ’04.) It’s pretty interesting stuff, and here’s a link to a Wikipedia article if you’re interested.

Here's another one to give you the ins and outs of celebrating New Year.

So, to all my friends: Gongxi facai! Congratulations and be prosperous!

Wow, Thanks!

Gee, everybody, what can I say! Cathy and I really appreciate the kind thoughts from everyone. We are very touched and grateful to have such good friends. Thanks so very much.

Cathy was amazed when I started sending out the "announcements" to everyone. She just couldn't believe that I was still in touch with so many people from so long ago. She's very excited about traveling to the US and visiting my old stomping grounds and meeting all of you. You've already made an impression on her. Thank you very much for welcoming her into your hearts.

Mostly because I need to update the profile section of the blog, here is another picture of Cathy and I taken this summer down near the river here in Ningbo. Truth in advertising moment: Cathy isn't quite that tall, at least not without standing on the lower rung of a railing.

You might remember the last picture in the profile section over to the right, a shot of me standing at the end of famous Nanjing Lu in Shanghai. There's also one of Denny at the end of his second post. Well, Cathy and I had to go to Shanghai to get a Certificate of Marriageability from the US Consulate, which gave me the chance to take yet another picture of a loved one in that same spot.

Cathy had not been to Shanghai since she was a little girl, so it was a relatively new experience for her. It IS a very impressive city, even to these jaded eyes of mine. I highly recommend it to any of you thinking of taking a long-distance vacation. (Although I've never been there, I've heard that it is much nicer, more cosmopolitan than Beijing, even though Beijing is hosting the Olympics in 2008).

Speaking of getting married in China, I think in the next post or two I'll walk you through the process in case any of you are of a mind to do that. It was interesting and different (a common occurrence here) to say the least. But, yes, it IS official, and yes, I AM married. I even have the little red book and the ink-stained finger tip to prove it.