Saturday, February 17

Xin Nian Hao…Happy New Year

Today is the eve of the Chinese new year…the Year of the Pig begins at midnight in China, which will be/was 10:00 AM here in the US Central time zone.

It is one of the biggest holidays in China and most businesses will be closed for the entire week to allow people to visit with family and friends to celebrate. The New Year – traditionally called Spring Festival – actually spans 15 days concluding with the Lantern Festival.

This year our new year celebration will be low key since I’m still on the sofa o’ recovery as I’m having a bit of trouble with my incision healing properly. However, I decided this morning that one of my goals for this year is to learn how to make jiaozi (dumplings) for next year’s New Year celebration, which will begin the Year of the Rat on February 7, 2008.

One of my favorite online stores and sources of information about Chinese culture, China Sprout, has a great section on the Chinese New Year.