Elyse Sewell ([info]elysesewell) wrote,
2009-01-26 01:12:00

oxing day

Chinese New Year! Oh my god! Chinese New Year! It's almost 12:30am and there is MAYHEM in my 'hood! Fireworks have been exploding CONSTANTLY for hours and hours! Burned shreds of red tissue paper from spent fireworks are piling up in drifts! The air is opaque with smoke. People are running through the streets screaming "Woooooo!" I have never seen Chinese people going apeshit like this! WOOOOO!

According to superstition, today (January 26th) will set the tone for the rest of the year, so everybody have a good one! Try not to get angry! Wear lucky red, avoid the number 4!

Happy Year of the Ox!

Holy shit, holy shit, the fireworks! Every car alarm going off! I do not fucking believe this! Explosions everywhere, allatime. Whistling launch-shrieks and distant booms and series of crackling pops that go on for minutes on end! People have bought strings of fireworks in giant red coils and are unfurling them like fat firehoses on the street, then lighting the fuse with a ciggie or a sparkler and running away! There are also car battery-sized boxes of rockets and little cones that just explode and send up a little sparky sputnik. The chicks in their knee-length down coats are all holding sparklers!

Year of the Ox, everybody. Year of hard work, year of strength. May it be auspicious. May we prosper!







UPDATE: I edited my video clips together into this movie.

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[info]mon_deluge

January 25 2009, 17:20:00 UTC 3 years ago

That sounds deafeningly amazing. Happy New Year!

Anonymous

January 25 2009, 17:20:32 UTC 3 years ago

FIRST!

happy cny! gong hay fa choy!

Anonymous

January 25 2009, 17:21:14 UTC 3 years ago

COMMENT FAIL.

[info]die

3 years ago

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[info]gonadsandstrife

January 25 2009, 17:20:37 UTC 3 years ago

I envy you so much that you get to be in China today. I had to fight with my douchebag boss to get the 26th off for the holiday.

[info]elysesewell

January 25 2009, 17:27:39 UTC 3 years ago

I caught myself thinking, "Oh my god, I get to be in CHINA on Chinese New Year! Who gets to do that?!"

Well, Elyse, only YOU. And 1.6 billion other people.

Happy niu year, wherever you are.

[info]gonadsandstrife

3 years ago

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[info]the_ma

3 years ago

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...and 3 more comments... from [info]chordate, Anonymous Expand

[info]radiopore

January 25 2009, 17:22:01 UTC 3 years ago

what's wrong with the number 4?

also, that sounds amazing, I wish I was there!

[info]elysesewell

January 25 2009, 17:25:21 UTC 3 years ago

It's pronounced the same as "death." In China, buildings have a 13th floor but not a 14th (because 1 + 4 are pronounced the same as "certain death"), and some have floor 1, 2, 3, 3A, 5, etc.

[info]radiopore

3 years ago

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[info]kinkakinka

3 years ago

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...and 5 more comments... from [info]finefinemusic, [info]67threnody, [info]tucker… Expand

[info]tchoong

January 25 2009, 17:22:13 UTC 3 years ago

Happy BOOM BOOM New BOOM BOOM Year!!!

BOOM!!!

:-P

[info]temperamental

January 25 2009, 17:22:41 UTC 3 years ago

God I wish I were back in China right now. 春节快乐!

[info]rougebaiser

January 25 2009, 17:23:05 UTC 3 years ago

Awesome pictures!

This year Chinese New Year has landed on the same day as Burns Night, meaning things in the pub were at once Chinese and Scottish themed. So I suppose the tone of the new year is one that comes with a lot of haggis.

[info]sternel

January 25 2009, 20:37:45 UTC 3 years ago

I love haggis, and honestly that sounds really awesome.

[info]firei

January 25 2009, 17:23:07 UTC 3 years ago

Happy happy Chinese New Year! I hope it is a good one for you! ;)

[info]munchkin1616

January 25 2009, 17:23:13 UTC 3 years ago

Hope you're celebrating too... doing anything special to mark the occasion? Set off some fireworks or eat something fun!

[info]furrylilfucker

January 25 2009, 17:24:02 UTC 3 years ago

When does it all get cleaned up?

And, were there any ladypose gigs related to the New Year?

[info]mcpreacher

January 25 2009, 17:25:44 UTC 3 years ago

get me that "nazi gold" hat from a bunch of posts ago

i will pay you

in nazi gold

[info]pspgm

January 25 2009, 17:26:23 UTC 3 years ago

Happy New Year!! I'm gonna go change into something red! :D

[info]ranai

January 25 2009, 17:30:13 UTC 3 years ago

I'll know not to order Chinese tonight; my proximity to Flushing, Queens ensures everyone will be partying over there.

Anonymous

January 25 2009, 17:31:57 UTC 3 years ago

Happy New Year

Gong hay fa choy and Gleðilegt nýtt ár from Iceland

[info]turkishb

January 25 2009, 17:33:14 UTC 3 years ago

WOOOOOOOOOO! have a great new year : )

wish american mayhem could be so positive

[info]mended_x_inside

January 25 2009, 17:34:26 UTC 3 years ago

crap! i want to be there! ^_^
i was in puerto rico for new years eve
and there were tons of fireworks and crackers going off all at once
it lasted like an hour or two after midnight, haha

[info]interstates

January 25 2009, 17:39:33 UTC 3 years ago

I don't think I've seen your writing so explosive and full of wonder. I can FEEL your excitement!

[info]impish_momo

January 25 2009, 19:00:13 UTC 3 years ago

EXCITEMENT IS CONTAGIOUS!

I know, Elyse's exclamation marks are so infectious!
I'm a Canadian of Chinese descent. Hilariously, it wasn't until Elyse mentioned Chinese New Year in a recent post that I a) remembered CNY and b) started to get psyched up.

An American model in China psychs up Chinese girl in Canada for Chinese New Year festivities via BLOG. The interwebs: they are fabulous.

[info]past_midnite

3 years ago

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[info]stevejosephson

January 25 2009, 17:41:31 UTC 3 years ago

Damn - sounds like Guy Fawkes, Carnival, and Sylvester all at once. I can just smell the gunpowder.

Work hard and prosper.

[info]fairycakepiece

January 25 2009, 17:42:42 UTC 3 years ago

from a longtime lurker/fan

don't go out and keep your windows shut, or your snot will get all black from the pollution XD happy new year! :D

[info]sbilokonsky

January 25 2009, 17:47:16 UTC 3 years ago

jan. 26th is my daughters birthday too! happy new year!

[info]squata_hey

January 25 2009, 17:52:20 UTC 3 years ago

Have an awesome year!

[info]mellamoestrella

January 25 2009, 17:59:20 UTC 3 years ago

I'm Vietnamese and wish I could be in Vietnam for New Year's. I'd happily settle for China tho!

[info]matthewlenin

January 25 2009, 18:03:20 UTC 3 years ago

This is amazing! I can't wait until I live in China...

Anonymous

January 25 2009, 18:04:46 UTC 3 years ago

wow! sounds so cool!! Did you join in on the screaming and running around? or just watched? Both ways I think it would be really interesting!!

[info]another_slender

January 25 2009, 18:07:05 UTC 3 years ago

sounds fun!
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