China for the New Year (7): Yichang and Zigui
I am now half way through my two-week trip to China to coincide with the Chinese New Year and today was New Year’s Eve.
The Chinese New Year sees the largest annual mass human migration in the world. China’s Ministry of Transport has estimated that almost three billion individual journeys will be made as part of this year’s month-long ‘chunyun’ or ‘spring rush’ as the Chinese travel to spend the New Year with relatives in their home town. So today China’s streets were deserted since everyone was at home with relatives.
Red lanterns, red knots, red couplets are everywhere, on doors, on windows, on hoardings, on buildings. Television is awash with entertainment shows involving much singing and dancing with performances in various ethnic costumes. Children receive red envelopes containing money so Joshua is enjoying himself.
On New Year’s, Eve, I joined some of the relatives in travelling from Yichang to Zigui which is just under an hour away by car. We were there to visit Joshua’s great grandmother on his mother’s side who is 89 tomorrow. She was relocated from her village, because of the flooding of the Three Gorges to build the dam, and lives with one of her daughters and family.
While in Zigui, we followed a New Year’s Eve tradition by visiting the local hillside cemetery to honour Joshua’s great grandfather on his mother’s side – flowers were presented, three bows were offered, and substantial amounts of three types of ‘money’ were burned to enable him to live comfortably in the after life.
In the Chinese New Year festival, the most important meal is on New Year’s Eve, so – back in Yichang – dinner today involved a record 17 dishes. But nobody was allowed to eat the fish which is left untouched as a symbol that, in the year ahead, there will always more than enough to eat.
The evening was occupied with a spectacular television show to mark the New Year with every kind of performer – including representatives of China’s 56 ethnic minorities – in huge synchronised displays, immensely colourful costumes, and plenty of special effects. We followed the tradition of staying up until midnight.
So Happy Chinese New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Dog!