Chinese new year might possibly be the best holiday every. If you could find some way to include costumes it would be perfect. Presents, family, food, and blowing up fireworks. i went wandering around the hotel for an hour in -6 weather and saw many different people setting off fireworks. It was cool to see all the different groups, families and college age kids all having a good time.

what makes this more fun than fourth of July is the scope and the closeness of the celebration. You can see left that the fireworks were blowing up directly overhead. People were standing within ten feet of the fireworks going off and these are small town sized fireworks. They are not as large as you would see at a display like seattle's but perhaps mason / carnation or some small town like that. What makes it crazy is that you buy them from a stand on the street like the pic below.

fireworks satisfy some primal joy in my soul. One of my fondest memories of being a yout is that of setting off tons of fireworks. i would make invites and plan it all out ahead of time. It was fun to wander around in a celebration were people enjoyed this as much as i did. When i came back to my room i stopped and looked out the 17th floor window. It was awesome in the dictionary sense of the word. All over the city people were lighting off these huge fireworks and standing there just taking in this primal joy made me incredibly contented. Fireworks touch that nerve in me because they serve no purpose except celebration and joy. They are loud and colorful and beautiful. On the streets here the sound of the fireworks mixes with car alarms and police sirens and makes a gorgeous cacophony. The only smell you can taste in the air is that of gunpowder. Alright enough mushy prose.

what makes this a little surreal is the abandon with how people celebrate. They light off fireworks in the street, on the sidewalks, in intersections, on buildings. And what makes it even more bizarre are the cars driving past, through and over the fireworks while security guards for all the buildings watch on.

Some interesting history about fireworks. This is the first year in some time (accounts vary but between 8 - 12 years) fireworks have been allowed within the fifth ring of the city. Quick city info, Beijing has concentric roads around the city. The forbidden city is the center with the wall around it the first ring (which also is the only one that is not a road). The fifth was considered the most recent border of the city (the second was the earliest) but they are currently building a sixth ring.

Music recommendation for Saturday, none. The only thing I listened to was things blowing up.

Here are some pics of a big firework, firecrackers lit hanging off a fence, the stand, and someone lighting them into the street right after a cop drove past (without saying anything).