Happy Chinese New Year.



As we in China enter the year of the pig, I sit at my laptop, the slim slit of daylight that my narrow window allows in my room is accompnaied by the constanting banging of fireworks. Now, I've been to many fireworks displays in and around the places I've lived. The common denomiator for these events (minus the fireworks) is that they all take place at night. However, here in the Middle Kingdom, it is not a rare sight to "see" fireworks being set off during broad daylight. Apart from a faint cloud of smoke and a lot of noise that resonates through the city, I simply can't understand why on Earth anyone would spend money on fireworks to set them off during the day.



Though it sounds like urban warfare outside my closed window, I'm sure it'll not amount to a mouse's squeak in comparison to what is expected tonight. My pyromaniac roommate has taken advantage of China's admirably priced market and has already stocked up a pile of fireworks (pictured) which just got doubled by the addition of fireworks from another colleague (And I'm lead to believe there will be many more). In addition, from the roof of my building, I can supposedly witness one of the worlds most spectacular firework extravaganzas that will take us into the New Year and Kick off the Spring festival.