Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! The last couple days, we've been experiencing some interesting cultural events. Here are a few pictures and videos of some of them. The days leading up to Chinese New Year are huge days for flower markets. They sell all kinds of flowers, some I've never seen or heard of before, as well as balloons, food, and the same kind of useless stuff you would find at a carnival. On New Years Eve, even the smaller markets, like this one, are packed.




This was my favorite of the "New Year" flowers. Since we were told that prices start falling after midnight, I went and got one at 2am. During the first couple days of the New Year, groups of people will go around and perform dragon dances. Store keepers and business owners pay them to dance in front of their buildings, which they believe will bring good luck for the next year. The smaller version of a dragon dance is a lion dance. We heard drums down by the street and got there in time to see some of a lion dance (although for all I know, it could be a small dragon).