Kids, ready to be released for the biggest holiday of the year, chanted a poem that told of the series of days that would carry them to Chinese New Year. The first special day, when they ate Eight Treasure Porridge, had already passed. Now they anticipated the 23rd day of the last lunar month of the year, and the start of daily events that would lead them all the way to the 30th – Chinese New Year’s Eve.

The 23rd arrived and vendors walked the streets drumming a metal plate to the tune of Ding Ding Dong calling kids to come for a toffee treat. Pieces of candy were cut from a slab, just like these chunks cut for me.

Ding Ding Dong Candy

This is when I noticed a few fireworks – the beginning of a crescendo that would carry me to Chinese New Year.

On the 24th I saw kids throwing smoke bombs outside while their parents swept inside. Traditionally the motive for sweeping was to chase out evil spirits. Now, a friend tells me, many think only of the spider webs constructed in the corners of apartments’ ceilings.

She goes on to explain what the 25th day of this last month of the Chinese calendar calls for. “We make frozen tofu squares.” Her jaw went up and down and she smiled as she relived this childhood memory. “When you bite down the liquid squirts into your mouth. They make a tasty treat.” And, like our Christmas cookies, they are enjoyed for days and weeks to come.

Preparations for the biggest meal of the year start on the 26th. Pigs are butchered or bought. The next day chickens follow their barnyard friends’ fate.

I fall asleep to the thumping bass of fireworks.

The 28th is where we are now. The stores and streets are crowded. The city is dotted with tents selling fireworks and I hear their popping sound throughout the day. Kids ride by on bicycles and I see a child with a bob haircut sitting on the kerb eating McDonald’s fries. I wonder if her grandma is one of the many at home preparing, making fermented dough. The kids know from the poem that tomorrow their grandmas will steam the dough to make mantou. While you can buy these buns any day of the year, during the holidays they are shaped into fish, seals, or pigs with pink noses.  

New Year’s Eve, the culmination of the preparation, is only two days away. I remember it well. Last year, after dark, our family walked the grid of buildings that make up our community. Brightly lit dining rooms showed families eating from overflowing tables. Nearly all dishes feature meat, I’ve been told, a symbol of plenty. I smiled to see these families, that are usually pulled apart by long work hours and long school days, together.

As they ate we found a place to set off our firecrackers. My boys fought the wind to light the bigger ones, then ran for shelter to watch. My daughter and I waved sparklers, shaping their lightning fizz in eights and hearts.

As we finished, our neighbours trickled out. Their firecrackers exploded above us. We watched a few then headed back to the shelter, and safety, of our home. We pulled our couch to face our long balcony window and, as in years past, watched in amazement the celebration. At midnight the grande finale began. There was not a second of silence for over half an hour – the banging blurred together. The night sky was filled with light. Spectacular.

Then came the moment every child anticipated. Families returned home. Children, following tradition, bowed low to grandparents and received red envelopes filled with money. As my kids climbed into bed, children all over China, I imagined, curled up clutching those little envelopes, content.

Hong Bao – Red Envelopes for the upcoming Year Of The Rooster

My kids fell asleep. My husband fell asleep. I tried, too, but I couldn’t. I moved to my window seat and watched the pinks and greens of the fireworks, sparser than before but seemingly more brilliant, pierce the night sky. Experience told me my neighbours wouldn’t sleep that night. I would hear more fireworks – maybe at 2am, again at 3, and most definitely at 5. I would lose more sleep than I would get.

I couldn’t ignore the welcome of yet another Chinese New Year.