They have been busy decorating our xiao qu (neighbourhood) and even supplied us with posters to put on the outside of our doors with the character fu (福) which means blessing. Red and gold posters, red paper cut-outs are everywhere, ushering in the year of the Ox.We recently went for a walk to a park nearby which had some ice. You might be thinking, 'oh they went skating, how nice...' but no, we tried something we'd never seen or heard of before.
It's a cross between skating, sledding and cross-country skiing. The little sleds have two blades that enable them to glide along the ice, and usually they are self-propelled via two small ski poles. The ski poles looked a little dodgy to me, and frankly dangerous with the inch long spikes on the end of them, so we went without.
At least three of us could fit on at a time and I would push, or Scott would use the short ski poles. Eli preferred to push Dana and Dana liked being pushed in the sled so it really worked out well. Where we live is pretty flat, so this is as close as we got to going sledding this winter.
I was glad that I actually had a use for those winter boots I bought the kids this year. I bought them in faith that we would 1. get some snow and 2. be able to do some winter activities...plus they weren't all that expensive. Although it seems mild here most of the time compared to where we're from in Canada, the wind can get pretty chilly here, cutting to the bone as you walk or bike where you need to go.
As we walked back from the park where we went ski-sledding, we must have passed at least three of these roadside stands selling firecrackers. Chinese people prefer to start their New Year with a bang and it is LOUD...like, don't bother trying to sleep kind of loud! I didn't ask how much the different kinds were, but I couldn't resist getting a picture. The whole country will soon be erupting in firecrackers and fireworks on Chinese New Year, I hope you do your part in celebrating too, even if it's just ordering Chinese Food or shooting a cap gun.