Chinese New Year's Eve

Wednesday night, February 6, was Chinese New Year's Eve, and we decided to go to Victoria Park, which is the traditional thing to do. It is a little like going to Times Square in New York, in that most people do it just once, or rarely. Victoria Park is a huge park set up with lots of vendors selling stuff for Chinese New Year, in market style. It has a carnival atmosphere. Wednesday night, after the big family meal, is the time to go, because it is the last day for the market and the vendors will discount their merchandise as the night goes on. We were told, some people stick around until 2-3:00 a.m. We went around 10 p.m. which was prime time. There was no choice in where to go because the crowd pushed you along--literally body-to-body. Many vendors sold toys for kids, but the main attraction are flowers that are a big party of CNY and represent the coming of spring. Here are some pictures:

Crowd:

Nice to see how other countries perceive the United States. This was the only thing we saw with a USA theme.Large, cut, cherry blossom trees sold just like Christmas trees:These are all forced daffodil bulbs that are placed in bowls of water.These are mandarin trees--another very popular part of CNY. We just got a bowl of fresh mandarins, which are totally delicious.Victoria Park is in an area of the city called Causeway Bay, and it is always busy. The crowds on this street are pretty typical. Note: it was close to midnight when this picture was taken.Thursday was the biggest day of Chinese New Year, the day when most things were closed. The tradition is to visit with family and have a big meal. I didn't want to be totally focused on party prep, so I made a nice meal for us including homemade egg rolls. They were a tad greasy, but super yummy. Yes, I am having a martini; it was at least 6:00.