May Prosperity Be with You!
On the eve of Lunar New Year we went to Chinatown. You could really feel the excitement. It was way busier than normal. The usual "Festive Market" had whole streets added to it selling mostly traditional treats. Foot traffic only. We bought a bag of mandarin oranges for $1 (I wish I had bought a few bags) for our snack. We saw long tables selling Pomelos, Persimmons, and Durians. There were stalls selling roasted melon seeds and peanuts with flavours like licorice, garlic, or plum.
I bought a bag of candied vegetables and fruit. I recognized lotus root with it's characteristic holes, the spice of strips of ginger, and kiwi with it's black seeds in the bag. There were many pieces we had no clue of the identity of. They were all shaken in powdered sugar. We all tried some. I liked the candied ginger the most.
Bright lights, the colour red, and loud noises are to scare away the Monster Nian whom legend tell us comes at midnight of Lunar New Year. Most people were dressed in red, including ourselves. Someone was walking through popping candy packages with a loud band and handing the out as they walked down the street. We each tried them. They were squishy and flavoured to tea (green tea, milk tea, etc.) I liked mine. We were not surprised that MsE did not, but she did try hers without any coaching.
We had given the kids Ang Pao - money in the Red Envelope and let them loose in Chinatown to buy souvenirs at the stalls. MsC spent a solid 15 minutes trying to decide between a red stone and green stone for the necklace she was buying. The rest of stood in the narrow street trying to stay out of the way of the people squishing by. In the end MsC picked red to remind her of Chinese New Year and got her name engraved in gold. MsE and MsI could have selected a dragon, but instead choose a Rat in matching colours. They haven't let them go since; they even came to the playground the next morning.
The streets surrounding Chinatown closed at 6 pm to accommodate the anticipated crowds. We arrived at 5:30 and left at 7, just as the glowing lights were turning on. You could tell the crowd was picking up.
