Happy Lunar New Year! 新年快乐！Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Festive red lanterns during Lunar New Year.

It was nice to spend another year Lunar New Year in China. Last year, we were in Shanghai to welcome the Year of the Dragon. This year, we welcomed in the Year of the Snake in Beijing and Tianjin (Beijing’s neighboring city). The Year of the Snake usually brings upon dramatic transitions (i.e. 1929 Wall Street Market crash, 1989 Berlin Wall break, 2011 9/11). It’s pretty crazy to already see massive changes with the resignation of the Pope. I hope that this year will bring good changes and closer to worldwide peace. I wish you all a great year full of balance, peace, happiness, excellent health and success!

China-the land of fireworks and where it was invented.

Like in most Chinese cities, Beijing becomes a ghost town during the Lunar New Year. This is a time when it’s important to go home to your family. With many people originating from the villages, there’s a huge exodus back to the rural regions. Travelling through China during this time is horrendous. Despite the barren streets, there are loud cracks and booms from firecrackers and fireworks (i.e. warzone-like sounds) on the streets. It can feel very post-apocalyptic and kind of creepy. I’m really glad that week is over and that people are back home visiting their families in distant villages. During the Lunar New Year, the city becomes decked out in red colors (red being an auspicious and lucky color) and lights. Because Christmas precedes Lunar New Year, the Chinese people don’t take off Christmas lights. Instead, they added red lanterns and red colors to them. Hence, we got to experience/enjoy Christmas for two months.


Matt and I spent the first day of the Lunar New Year at the Great Wall. That day also happened to be our anniversary. It was pretty romantic. We stayed at a boutique lodge called The Brickhouse, which we would recommend that to anyone!

Mutianyu section of China's Great Walk

The second day of the new year, Matt and I embarked on a two-day trip to Tianjin.  We took a high-speed train and arrived at Tianjin in under 30 minutes. Tianjin is a cute port city and has a long history of trading with Westerners. Like Shanghai, Tianjin has a section of its city with European architecture where European concessions once existed. These European-style buildings are now housed by Chinese businesses. It was freezing and barren when we went. So, Matt and I plan to revisit Tianjin when the weather warms up.

Tianjin: A city with a European Flavor.