New Year's Day

When the sun rose on New Year's Day, the fireworks started again.  Compared to the noise levels the night before, it seemed anemic and half-hearted....like a few people stayed up to greet the sunrise, and then immediately crawled back into bed.  By 10:00 a.m. it was relatively quiet and safe to go out onto the streets.   The streets were covered with the red confetti of exploded firecrackers and littered with piles of charred cardboard tubes from Roman Candles.  The biggest piles were in front of the apartment complexes. 

We met up with a couple that is new to Suzhou, and took them up the Tiger Hill.   We were hoping that there might be some kind of spectacle going on there....like dragon dances or performances.  No such luck, though.  The garden was nicely decorated with lots of red and gold lanterns.  And there were a lot of people there.  But nothing of unusual value associated with the New Year.

It was a pretty day though, and a lot of people had brought their families out for a walk through the park.
I'm pretty sure that they were predominately local folks, and not the normal bused-in-tourist crowds.  The normal tourists should be spending the holidays at home with their families.  The Tiger Hill visitors we saw were probably Suzhou people - people desperate for a chance to get out of the house after being locked up with family for the last 24 hours.   It was an opportunity to burn a few calories and get a break from endless games of mah jong or the ceaseless chattering of an Aunt or Uncle.

After walking Tiger Hill, we took a canal boat back to the ShangTang Street shopping area.  It was packed with people too.  The shops were tempting people with holiday gifts....like food or year-of-the-dragon charms.  Probably 95% of the stores in Suzhou were closed on New Year's Day, but here most every shop was open.    Tradition stands no chance when pitted against profit motive.

Food is a popular gift for the holiday.  Fresh fruit is probably the most popular of all the food gifts.  Miniature tangerines seem to be specifically linked to the holiday.  In the photo below you can see the fruit baskets and tangerines on display. 

Tulips are also linked to the New Year holiday.   It's too early for them to bloom naturally, so people buy the bulbs in December and force them to bloom indoors.  The  photo below shows some of the large tulip displays that were seen at Tiger Hill.

And, of course, there were red lanterns hanging up everywhere.  Just as Christmas brings out the evergreen trees everywhere, so too does Chinese New Year bring out these red decorations.