Chun Jie Kuai Le (Part III: Fireworks)
Kim and her husband found it difficult to say no once their son, Ding Ding, started the festivities with a few sparklers. He quickly graduated to more spectacular items. This Roman candle provided just the bang for which he was looking. Now the Chinese, Roman candles, much like their firecrackers, cannot be compared to those wimpy foot-and-a-half long tubes with which I grew up. The one Ding Ding holds is nearly as tall as he is and it shot approximately twenty flaming, colored balls. It even had a little bit of a kick to it. Just like the firecrackers and sparklers, these items were launched from inside the building. From the twelfth floor, colored balls of fire exploded out of Ding Ding's hands.
Just so you can believe me about the fireworks and where some of them found their launching points, this phot shows another Roman candle being shot from the seventh floor of a neighboring building. In the bottom, righthand corner of the picture, a small spark gives evidence that others, outside the apartment, were also lighting off a variety of fireworks. The reason I mention this is because, at one point, we needed to remind Ding Ding that he must aim his candle into the sky. He had been shooting flaming balls toward the cars in the picture. His mother and father were noticeably mortified. Once the correction had been made, everything returned to a 'safe' environment. . .at least by China standards.
Here is a shot of the really warzone. As those of you who have been in combat know, fireworks really cannot do the sounds of battle much justice. Jasmine, who grew up in Yemen, and has experienced the unrest of the Middle East, assured us that war sounds noticeably different. However, this picture only shows one corner of a large playground. Each side of the play area was lined with people, all shooting their fireworks toward the center of the square, or more precisely, toward the opposite side of the square. Therefore, it did become somewhat of a warzone. Even I managed to inadvertently hit an adult male with a bottle rocket. The strange thing was that no one seemed scared by the whole melee of fire. Boys ran to and fro through the barrage collecting expended items. While I enjoyed all of the lights, the smoke, and the explosions, I think my favorites were the loud bangs that produced a shower of confetti. By the time we left for home, large piles of confetti created firey rings in the middle of the playground.
The above picture is an example of 'li hua.' Picture this: Two adult males (Chinese males, but adult males nonetheless) drag a large box toward the center of the playground. The box measures approximately two-and-a-half to three feet tall, by two feet wide and deep. One man walks slowly back to the side of the square, while the other man squats down next to the box with a lighter. The second man hurriedly backs away from the large box, and a moment latter, the first of nearly five consecutive minutes of large 'li hua' emits from the container. I have never seen the size and power of fireworks for retail like I saw during Chun Jie. I stood and watched outside a hotel as the hotel lit firecrackers to scare away 'Nian.' The firecrackers literally went on for about five minutes. That was one strand of firecrackers. The box they had been housed in prior to ignition was enormous. I got to the point where no explosion, no matter how close, startled me in the least. 
I mentioned that 'Nian' is a monster, not a dragon. In fact, dragons are the symbol of the emporer. Therefore, dragons are noble, powerful animals, but not monsters. Similarly, the Phoenix is the symbol of the Empress. This beautiful bird drives away evil with its song, can heal with its tears, and finds rebirth from its own ashes (the Phoenix bursts into flames as it nears death). In the above photo, a silver Phoenix is illuminated by the fireworks exploding in a park southwest of my apartment. Some fireworks can be seen in the background, but they do not do justice the the constant barrage of sound and light taking place within the park.
As a young boys living in Elkorn, Nebraska, my twin brother, Robert, and I used to ride our bicycles three miles one way to the next town, Waterloo, on a daily basis just to buy fireworks. The Douglas County Post-Gazette even printed a front page article about our daily travels. We wasted paper route money for anything we could get our hands on; then we pedaled the three miles back home to light our mini-arsenal. When that article first appeared in the newspaper rack, we thought for sure we were dead, that our mother and father would discipline us for wasting our money. However, when my mother finally saw the paper, she looked at us in astonishment and told us how dangerous Maple street (the one leading to Waterloo) could be. Over twenty years later, she would probably be appalled at the danger of Chun Jie fireworks, but you should see the faces of the young boys running around through the bursting and fading light of a shower of 'li hua.'
posted by Roland at 5:42 PM
1 comments
The word for year is 'nian.' So, other than 'Chun Jie Kuai Le' (Happy Spring Festival), a person could also greet another with 'Xin Nian Kuai Le' (Happy New Year). The reason 'nian' is so important is because 'nian' is also the name of the New Year monster that threatens the prosperity and fortune of the New Year. Therefore, a few traditions are designed specifically to deal with 'nian,' to keep it from influencing 'Xin Nian.' The first tradition is to display red banners on the doorway to the home (apartment). The 'nian' does not like red; therefore, the red banners exist to scare away the 'nian.' These banners usually include some New Year greetings, one of which I will get to in a little bit.
In Jewish culture, it is custom to offer prayers to those in the family who have gone before you. In some Catholic traditions, it is customary to pray for deceased family relatives. Here in China, it is a Xin Nian tradition to burn fake money for those who have passed on to the next world. Like white envelopes, the fake money is burned prior to the evening meal. Kim's husband knelt and bowed three times before lighting the fire and placing the money in the fire. Like the fireworks, no thinks anything of creating a fire within the small confines of one's apartment. Many people still cook with either wood or charcoal, so what's a little more smoke going to harm?
Much like my family's mustard beans, the 'traditional' meal varies from home to home, city to city, and province to province. Suli, a Junior Kindergarten teacher from He Kou (Huh Co), on the Vietnam border, says her family always has fish, celery, and garlic. They have many other things, but these three must be represented. Here is why. Nian Nian You Yu is a New Year greeting that means "My year has more than enough." 'Nian,' as you may recall is "year." 'You' is the verb "to have." And 'Yu' is "fish," which is a sign of plenty. Therefore, one must eat fish for New Year. Now, celery is a symbol for hard work. Therefore, one must eat celery in order to have a productive year. Strangely, garlic is a symbol for financial skill. So one eats garlic to ensure positive financial dealings throughout the coming year. At our own feast, pictured above, we ate fish, chicken, duck, pork, and beef. We also a variety of cooked vegetables and soup. We drank tea, but we also had juice and Coke as options.
On every English television broadcast, the newsperson always spoke about how the year of the pig is supposed to be a prosperous year. We asked Kim if any year in the Chinese zodiac was not supposed to bring prosperity. Her reply was that every year in the Chinese zodiac is supposed to create this prosperous state. However, it all comes down to how well the people can scare away Nian. However, as the picture above shows, sugarcane is another traditional adornment at Chun Jie. Much like bamboo, sugarcane grows in visible sections. Raw sugarcane is also extremely sweet. Therefore, just like the sugarcane has section upon section and is very sweet, a person places sugarcane by the door way to the apartment to denote that life is just getting better and better, or sweeter and sweeter.
If Chun Jie focuses on people, then why should I take a picture of the four-lane street outside my apartment building? This picture was taken at about 16.00 on the Eve of the New Year, Saturday, 17 February. I had just gotten back from purchasing some serious fireworks (I will get to more about that in another "Part"). The group I was to be spending the evening with was gathering outside my apartment complex. This picture shows "suicide crossing," four lanes of generally treacherous traffic, which must be negotiated to get to friends' apartments, some restaurants, the 'caishichang' (the market--fruits, vegetables, meat), and a branch of the Bank of China. Normally, I wait a few minutes for traffic to slow enough for me to get across. As you can see, only two vehicles wisk by in this photo. Most everyone had already gone to be with family.
Our KIA group consisted of Candy (Elem. ELD), Emily (6th grade), Jasmine (Kindergarten), Michelle (Guidance counselor), Sarah (4th grade), and me. We were invited to our Chinese teacher's, mother-in-law's home for the meal. In this photo, Candy (left) and Emily (right) sit on either side of Zhang Kim, our Chinese instructor. We piled eight adults and one child into Kim's husband's company 'mian bao che' for the short drive to his mother's apartment. For those of you who do not know what a 'mian bao che' is, it is a mini-van that makes our mini-vans look like full-size conversion vans. The name 'mian bao che' comes from 'mian bao' (bread) and 'che' (vehicle), because the van looks like a small loaf of bread. Yes, that is my ear on the left side of the picture.
Getting into the spirit of the holiday, Jasmine (left) and Sarah (right) share sparklers with Ding Ding (bottom), Kim's six-year-old son. While there are firestations in Kunming, everything is generally built out of concrete. I have not seen a single firealarm in any building I have entered. Therefore, lighting sparklers inside a twelfth-floor apartment is not even thought of as dangerous. It is expected. In fact, . . (wait, I will get to more of what people do in their apartments when I talk about fireworks in another "Part"). Jasmine is from the States, but has spent much of her life in Yemen. Sarah came to China from up-state New York. Both are new members of the KIA staff, like me. Based on the Chinese government's law, Ding Ding is an only child. His smile is quick, and on this evening, he ran about the small apartment constantly asking to light the fireworks waiting in one of the bedrooms. 
Here is Ding Ding in his fancy, new racing jacket. While I will share more about New Year traditions in another blog entry, it is important to know that new outfits are traditional, and red, being a color of celebration, is the prefered color. For those of you who know children's literature, you may be familiar with a very old story about the Emperor's New Clothes. This story finds its roots in Asian culture--many Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year--and has often been modified to fit our western culture. We can probably thank Marco Polo for that. This photo was taken after the meal and after fireworks, just as we were preparing to leave. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Ding Ding lighting fireworks. Those of you who are parents of boys probably know the joy and excitement that picture would have displayed.
Sadly, this is the only good picture I have of our host. The little woman in the middle, with her back to the camera, is Kim's mother-in-law. (I am sorry I do not know her name. In Chinese culture, a wife does not take her husband's name. I do not know Kim's husband's name or the mother-in-laws name either. It would be a lot of names to remember.) She prepared ninety percent of the food on her own. Sarah is on her left, Candy and Jasmine are in front of her, and Michelle is on the right in the grey hoody. One other person who had been present at the meal, but left before the fireworks, was Kim's brother-in-law. After I was dropped off at home, I strolled the streets, watching the fireworks, until about midnight. But more I fireworks later.
The Chinese call Kunming, Spring City, because its weather remains rather temperate throughout the year. While we have received one day of snow (none of which stuck to much of anything), the relative temperature throughout the winter has been rather mild, about 17 degrees Celsius. Also, the rainy season comes during the summer. So while it is relatively cool during the winters, it is not wet, which is nice. As you can see in the photo below, the sun can be a bit unrelenting, even in early February. These two Korean students, Esther and her brother (who does not attend KIA), hide from the sun under makeshift covers (their jackets). Asians place a high priority on light skin. The lighter the better. Dark skin means you work outside for your living, the sign of the lower class. A Chinese staff member who has travelled to Sweden could not believe her eyes when she saw people in Sweden sunbathing. It made no sense to her. We could not escape the sun on this day.
Audrey (the Texas Princess, as I affectionately call her) is a junior at KIA and loves to climb. I think her younger brother Noah dragged her out the first time, but she has needed no further encouragement for each subsequent expidition. In this picture, she clings to a resting spot and gives a big smile for the camera. The route she is on was only completed by herself and two of the adult chaperones (not me). If you ask Audrey what she likes to do, she will tell you "run." However, she is no slouch at climbing either.
Jeff, one of the adult chaperones, works as an arborist, and while most of his climbing consists of clinging to trees, he also can scoot up rock faces. In this shot, Jeff gives moral support to Esther, who struggled up an adjacent route. I was belaying Esther and assisted her when she needed it, but at less than 100 pounds, this little Korean is made up of mostly muscle. Jeff would evetually pass her and cheer her on from above. Esther completed her route like a champ.
The first time I went with the group, we had many more students. Therefore, I did not receive an opportunity to have a shot at climbing. This time, however, I went for it. I shoved my feat (pun intended) into a size 39-40 climbing shoe--I wear about a 44 street shoe--and gritted my teeth through three-quarters of the most difficult of the three routes. At that point, my body was jello, and it was time to head back to our vans. However, when I got back to the bottom and attempted to take off my shoes, I received a glimpse of what having bound feet must feel like. My feet had literally taken the shape of those tiny climbing shoes. In this shot, I have just completed the first section of the climb (the most difficult) and am on my way up. Don, another chaperone, had found a nice ledge--the beginning of another route--and was taking moving footage and still shots. A group of Chinese climbers also came by and started snapping photos. No one told them that I was probably the least skilled climber in the group and that Miss Carpenter pretty much hoisted me up the route. Oh well, what they don't know can't hurt them.
The happy bride and groom dressed in much the same fashion as our betrothed would. While it is certainly still standard to see the bride and groom at a rural wedding in traditional Chinese attire, it has become more commonplace in the city for the bride to wear an elaborate white gown and the groom to wear a black tuxedo. Men may choose a tuxedo in the more tradition Zhong Shan Zhuang style, but it is a tuxedo none the less--this groom wears a Xi Zhuang or 'Western style' (lapels) tuxedo. The young man is the son of the 'laobanniang' (female shopkeeper/shopkeeper's wife) of a small restaurant outside of the school's campus. She invited up to ten staff members to join the wedding party, thanking KIA for the patronage our staff and students afford her business.
I will admit that I hesitated to have my picture taken with the happy couple: me, the big pink Meiguoren, with the beautiful bride and proud groom. However, everyone, bride, groom, parents, standers-by, all wanted the picture, so each of the staff members present took our turns getting our pictures taken. (People love people, and it seems that Chinese people love to have foreigners, especially Americans, at their festivities). We were offered traditional gifts--chocolates, peanuts, and cigarettes--upon entering the banquet hall, and then led to our table.
The entire ceremony took place like a banquet. All the guests were seated at tables of ten, and a rounder on the table came furnished with drinks. Our table had beer, wine, Sprite and Coke. However, as soon as we sat down, all of those were removed and replaced with individual bottles of Coca-Cola. No other table received this treatment. All we could think was that during our lunches at the restaurant, the laobanniang noticed that most of the staff members went next door for cold drinks, most notably Coca-Cola. Therefore, to make us feel at home, this offering was brought to us without asking. We were all surprised--and the wine-drinkers among us wondered where the bottle had gone--and pleased at the obvious gesture of curtiousy.
As stated above, the entire ceremony resembled more of our after-marriage reception. This ceremony was led by a female MC, seen above, dressed in red, a traditional color of celebration. She performed a type of Roast and Toast for the happy couple, asking them questions about how and where they met, and what their plans for the future would be. She also presented the parents of the bride and groom, and they all went through a separate ceremony much like our lighting of the family candle. I found it inspiring to see the parents shedding tears, much like ours do, because I rarely have seen the Chinese people to become extremely emotional about anything. But on this night, tears of joy were shed.
While all of this is going on, the feast was served. It began with noodles, and progressed into a variety of meat and vegetable dishes--the more meat served the better people will think of the wedding, because meat costs more than vegetables. We had dishes piled on our table's rounder, and it kept coming. In fact, when I ran out of Coke, another bottle was furnished to replace the empty one. We ate fish, beef, pork, chicken, rice, cabbage, toufu, mantou (steamed loaves of bread), and more. Every time we thought we neared the end, a new dish arrived. The bride and groom visited each table, making a toast, which we returned. The parents of both also came to the table for a similar toast; once again, we replied heartily. Finally, instead of rice, which did not surprise me, people showered the newlyweds with rose petals.
