I went with my roommate, Tina, back to her hometown for the Chinese New Year holiday. It was my first time to spend the holiday with a Chinese family and was a totally different experience than any I've had so far in China. Travelling with friends around China, talking with random Chinese people, and even having Chinese friends my own age, aren't at all the same as living with a Chinese family
Here we are in Zhuhai airport, having a snack before boarding the plane.
The day after we arrived was the CNY eve. We had breakfast out - in a local food stall. Our table was on the street.
Nearly every door had red banners for the holiday. They say things "Whoever goes through this door has blessings."
Our breakfast - red bean porridge, noodles, fried pancake with green onions.
Then we went to the market to buy things for the CNY dinner. The market was quite crowded.
Spices.
Back home again. This is Tina's nephew. He is dressed in layer after layer of clothes to keep him warm. If he took a tumble, he wouldn't even feel it.
The New Year Snacks - oranges, apples, peanuts, sunflower seeds, plum seeds, sweetened sweet potato chips. The children sure enjoyed them - they were all over the floor! I really enjoyed them, too.
Tina's mom is an excellent cook. We had so many dishes for the New Year meal with lots left over for the following day.
I love it that everyone can "play fireworks" - they are cheap and on every street corner for sale. The sky was flashing with light for hours and hours. And also days and days. Tina's family lit sparklers then came in about 9 pm. We weren't allowed to go back out after that (to keep the ghosts away) but Tina's dad let the kids "play fireworks" out their 4th story window.
Then, right after the stroke of midnight, he took out a roll of black cat firecrakers a foot in diameter and suspended them out the stairwell window. What a noise!
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