Chinese New Year

For Chinese New Year Olivia and I headed to Bangkok to check out China Town. We took a stroll down Yarawat road which was decked out in red and gold and covered with lanterns, banners and other festive decorations. We wandered through a giant, never-ending, market filled with every cheesy souvenir you could possibly think of. It was awesome.  

On Thursday we went with our school to a New Years celebration in Suphanburi at the Chinese Dragon Decedents museum, which is literally a gigantic dragon sculpture. Here we were able to see some traditional Chinese dances and performances. Of course there were fireworks (this country puts our 4^th of July to shame) and a concert by a pretty famous Thai pop band (judging by the screams of  my M2 girls).

Here are a few things I learned about Chinese New Year

-Chinese people spend the days before the New Year cleaning the entire house. This is meant to symbolize sweeping away all the ill-fortunes from the previous year and making room for all of the good fortunes that are to come in the new year.

-In China Town I saw many people burning big bonfires. I found out the people make offerings to the dead by burning items (such as fake money, fake houses etc.) to send to the afterlife. They also set out big feasts for the spirits of their ancestors.

-You are not allowed to cut your hair right before or after the New Year. You are also not allowed to wash your hair because you will be washing away your good luck. 

-2011 is the year of the Rabbit, which apparently means it will be a much calmer year than 2010 (the year of the Tiger).