Celebrations in the South

We've spent the past week or so in Guangzhou (Southern China) with J's family and Laolao (grandma) to ring in the Chinese New Year.

New Years dinner

Guangzhou forms a part of the Cantonese (affectionately referred to as Canto) region of China, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the Cantonese do not mess around when it comes to celebrating.

New Years (February 19) arrived in an explosion of red fireworks and fire crackers (and subsequently departed with me having a newfound fear of fire crackers).

The evening started off with a few sporadic explosions and bangs from nearby houses as neighbours set off firecrackers in their respective driveways. It wasn't until midnight, however, that things really started firing up (pun intended) and the festivities truly began.

We ventured up to the third floor balcony to get a better view, the night sky exploding in an array of colour all around us. Everyone had saved their most impressive fireworks for 12:00AM, and like clockwork, one after the other, the surrounding rows of houses began setting them off, colourful sparks raining down all around us.

The fireworks were beautiful; the crackers on the other hand, were absolutely terrifying. Red tubes filled with explosive, snaking down driveways and into the streets. People would set them alight and run for cover as the crackers began to writhe, banging their way through pockets of explosive, each explosion an assault on both the ears and central nervous system (not to be too melodramatic).

The next morning, I walked down the street, taking in the remnants of the previous night's merriment. Shreds of red paper littered driveways and streets, gently swirling in the breeze.

The remnants of the GIGANTIC firecracker from the previous night (seen in the video above)

In Chinese culture, red means good fortune and prosperity for the new year. People try to outdo one another by buying and setting off as many red crackers as they can in a bid to have the most red, and thus, the most good fortune for the new year.

Chinese New Year was like no other celebration I've ever seen or participated in. It was quite a sight to be sure, and a really cool experience.