Our own Chun Jie traditions
In Shenzhen we were in the habit of attending Mass on the morning of the first day of Chun Jie. It was a great tradition that we have not been able to get on to here in Beijing. We had a lot more friends at the Nantou parish, people to remind us to join them at Church. Here in Beijing we are mostly friendly with the seminarians, and they have all gone home for the holiday. Here are some links to Mass in 2008 and 2009.
Food is, of course, an important part of any holiday celebration. In previous years we've celebrated special meals the night before and on the fifth day, Chun Wu, we have made jiao zi (we also did it in 2009, at the same home with the same people, but apparently I didn't blog it).
We've decorated our door in the traditional Chinese way, though with Christian blessings, both in Shenzhen and here in Beijing. I actually rehung ours from last year since I did not buy new ones this year.
And in previous years, the kids have been dressed in New Year's clothing. This year I did not get around to buying them any (my bad!), but since we I was sure we would not be going to Mass, I wasn't as motivated to buy them outfits for New Year's. But at the park this afternoon I really could not resist buying Brigid a set of Year-of-the-Rabbit Ears.
And while I'm on the subject of the park, how great is it that my kids get to enjoy outdoor skating this time of year? Maybe this will be part of our Beijing traditions.
For those of you who follow me on twitter, sorry for the recycled pictures. Rather than post it again, here's a link to my twitpic of how they clean the ice at Changping Park.
Of course, the most fun New Year's tradition for us Americans has to be the fireworks. We have not yet set of our own yet, so that will be another post. The video I posted the other day was the fireworks assault just after midnight. My video, just on my camera, maybe doesn't capture the beautiful chaos adequately. As far as we could see in any direction were thousands upon thousands of fireworks going off at any given moment. For a professional take on this, you must check out Jonah Kessel's great short video.
Food is, of course, an important part of any holiday celebration. In previous years we've celebrated special meals the night before and on the fifth day, Chun Wu, we have made jiao zi (we also did it in 2009, at the same home with the same people, but apparently I didn't blog it).
We've decorated our door in the traditional Chinese way, though with Christian blessings, both in Shenzhen and here in Beijing. I actually rehung ours from last year since I did not buy new ones this year.
And in previous years, the kids have been dressed in New Year's clothing. This year I did not get around to buying them any (my bad!), but since we I was sure we would not be going to Mass, I wasn't as motivated to buy them outfits for New Year's. But at the park this afternoon I really could not resist buying Brigid a set of Year-of-the-Rabbit Ears.
And while I'm on the subject of the park, how great is it that my kids get to enjoy outdoor skating this time of year? Maybe this will be part of our Beijing traditions.
For those of you who follow me on twitter, sorry for the recycled pictures. Rather than post it again, here's a link to my twitpic of how they clean the ice at Changping Park.
Of course, the most fun New Year's tradition for us Americans has to be the fireworks. We have not yet set of our own yet, so that will be another post. The video I posted the other day was the fireworks assault just after midnight. My video, just on my camera, maybe doesn't capture the beautiful chaos adequately. As far as we could see in any direction were thousands upon thousands of fireworks going off at any given moment. For a professional take on this, you must check out Jonah Kessel's great short video.
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